Tawuniya signs raft of deals at 24 Fintech as CEO unveils strategic vision for digital era

RIYADH: Saudi insurance company Tawuniya signed a host of new agreements at the 24 Fintech conference in Riyadh as its CEO revealed the firm is looking to make more investments.

Tawuniya focused on digital transformation with the partnerships, and speaking to Arab News on the sidelines of the event Othman Al-Kassabi said his company was investing “left, right, and center”.

The fintech conference commenced on Sept 3., with more than 30,000 attendees expected over the event’s three days.

Reflecting on Tawuniya’s ambitions, Al-Kassabi said: “We are an insurance company that has plans to penetrate the digital era, and a strategy that was approved in 2021.

“Within that strategy, we wanted to be the largest insurance company in the MENA region, which was achieved two years back.”

He added: “You cannot ignore today that technology is enabling the markets to achieve.”

Al-Kassabi highlighted the company’s recent investments as part of a broader strategy to enhance Tawuniya’s offerings. 

“Today, we have signed with Sukuk, we have signed with Abyan, we have signed with many of those startups. We’ve just announced a couple of days back that we have acquired a share in Syarah, so we are investing left, right, and center within a given strategy that can mainly complement what we want to reach,” said the CEO.

Despite already having inked around 15 deals, Al-Kassabi made clear that his company was still interested in further collaborations.

“Our scouting team now, and our business development and digital sectors, are available here looking for ideas that can complement us,” Al-Kassabi said. 

He added: “In Tawuniya, we believe within our strategy that we should not build everything from scratch, but we tap into partnerships and we create a win-win situation, and any given way that creates a joint, let’s say, opportunity.” 

As the insurance market evolves, digital platforms play an increasingly vital role, believes the CEO, saying:  “Today, the market size is around SR65 billion ($17.3 billion), and 16 percent of these transactions happened on digital platforms.” 

He added: “The new generation, and with the new technology, there are a lot of applications that can be adopted to enhance the experience out of the insurance market.”

Al-Kassabi acknowledged the complexities of the insurance industry but emphasized the importance of simplification to improve customer experience. 

“Honestly, insurance is not a likable product. It’s complicated. You have to do a lot of stuff until you get it. So simplifying it would give you the opportunity to create customer experience, and a better way, efficiencies, etcetera,” the CEO explained.

To achieve this, Tawuniya has leveraged fintech and insurance tech innovations.

“Fintechs and technology like insurtech had enabled the companies and the markets to tap into untapped areas and create new products,” Al-Kassabi said.

One of Tawuniya’s key initiatives involves adopting a data strategy to better understand customer behavior, and customize products to create “customer stickiness,” he added. 

In their comprehensive motor insurance product, Tawuniya uses telematics to monitor driving behavior, rewarding people based on their performance. “Today, we are able to check and monitor the behavior of the customer after his acceptance. We monitor the acceleration, the speed, the deceleration, the maneuvering, and the use of the phone, and then we give you points in each journey.”

These points can lead to rewards, including free petrol or other gifts, and customers who demonstrate good behavior can earn discounts. “It’s a win-win situation where you drive better, we understand your behavior well, and then we had also contributed to the community by having safer streets,” Al-Kassabi added.

Tawuniya’s digital innovation extends beyond traditional insurance products. The company recently launched Tree, the first fully digital insurance company in Saudi Arabia. “Tree is an insurance company that’s fully owned by Tawuniya and is able to then penetrate the insurance market from a direction that was not approached before,” Al-Kassabi revealed. 

Tree is pioneering new products, including pet insurance, which Al-Kassabi believes will be a game-changer in the market. “Tree today has the pets insurance for pets, cats, dogs, etc., and these kinds of products were not introduced in the market. And we believe that it’s going to be a great product,” he said.

Tree’s flexible approach allows it to quickly test and innovate products. 

“The beauty of Tree is that we go to the market, let’s say barriers are low. So we test and try and innovate. Whatever products work, we will invest more in it. What doesn’t work, we will kill. And that’s the beauty of digital companies,” Al-Kassabi said.

Looking ahead, Tawuniya’s strategy for 2027 aims to diversify its revenue streams, with a significant portion of profitability expected to come from non-core insurance activities. “We’re going into health care, we’re going into the spare parts market. We’re going into car maintenance, car washing, financing, and financial investments through our life insurance,” Al-Kassabi outlined.

Reflecting on the broader market context, the top official noted the transformative impact of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. “The financial development program is an initiative of Vision 2030 that stated clearly that they want the insurance market contribution to the oil GDP to move from 1.6 percent to 4.5 percent by 2030,” he said. “Today, we have reached 3.2 percent, almost 1.5 percent of contribution to be added in addition to the growth of the Saudi economy,” he added.

Despite the progress, Al-Kassabi believes there is still significant room for growth. “I think the market has not saturated yet on multiple fronts. There are big opportunities. And on the other hand, there are also big opportunities in introducing new products,” Al-Kassabi said.