The Dutch Association of Insurers has partnered with Netherlands-based consultancy firm specialised in digital transactions INNOPAY . Via this partnership, the Dutch Association of Insurers and INNOPAY seek to enable the players in the insurance sector to transition to Open Insurance.

The issues the collaboration plans to tackle include ensuring that the exchange of data leads to new data-driven services and products that enhance customer experience. As outlined in the official press release, context-wise, while data sharing – the concept at the core of Open Insurance – offers opportunities for the players in this field, it equally poses challenges. This is the case especially in light of the current landscape – marked not only by the growth of the digital ecosystem, but also by the proposal of new legislation such as the European Financial Data Access (FIDA) regulation.

According to the FIDA framework, customers now have the right to choose if, how, with whom, and for how long they want to share their financial data. However, the insurance industry has expressed concerns regarding the FIDA regulation. For instance, Insurance Europe, an industry body that represents 922,000 employees and over 4,900 insurance and reinsurance undertakings, emphasised in its response to the FIDA the need for the legislation to embrace the potential of cross-sectoral data sharing and suggested a step-by-step approach to identify specific use cases where a framework would benefit consumers.

More details about the Dutch government’s approach The Dutch government’s solution is, reportedly, to establish a legal framework related to data sharing, within the financial sector, that enables each customer to have control over the use of their data. Even more to this point, an official from the Dutch Association of Insurers pointed out that reaching clear agreements about this matter at the sector level is expected to give customers control over their data and increase the acceptance of data sharing among consumers. To achieve this, the government banks on establishing a collaborative effort between existing players like intermediaries and proxies, as well as new players like data holders or data users. INNOPAY is a consultancy that covers a wide range of topics including digital identity, data sharing, Open Banking, Open Finance, embedded insurance and Open Insurance, among others.

When commenting on this partnership, a representative from INNOPAY explained that the company intends to use the knowledge that it gained as a consultancy firm specialised in digital transactions to support API-first transitions and the development of a data-sharing framework or ‘scheme’ within the insurance sector. .