The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the digital transformation of the Saudi insurance market, aided in part by the Kingdom’s strong telecommunications and information technology infrastructure, the availability of 4G and 5G network services, and the widespread usage of smartphones. This launched a frantic race among insurance companies to develop their apps to serve millions of customers, meet their needs in ways they want, and at their convenience.

This competition among insurance companies to win the digital transformation race has resulted in major development of the sector, which is a key pillar of the national economy. The insurance sector grew by 8.4 percent during 2021, and the total written premiums reached SR42 billion ($11.2 billion), according to an annual report of the Saudi Central Bank.

Bupa Arabia has been at the forefront of Saudi insurance companies that adopted their operations to the evolving technological landscape and has played a leading role in the digital transformation of the insurance sector, pioneering the development of cutting-edge software solutions and apps.

Al-Shereef Hamideddin, director of marketing and customer experience design at Bupa Arabia, said the company has established a special department to lead its digitization efforts. This department has been instrumental in designing the company’s strategies, with the aim of improving the delivery of health services to its customers.

Moreover, Bupa Arabia has made significant investments to develop digital solutions, which in turn has contributed to enhancing the customer experience.

“The contribution of Bupa Arabia in advancing the development of this sector, includes the development of our app, which facilitates members to access many services from the comfort of their homes, such as booking appointments in hospitals, selecting clinics and specialties, choosing where to receive medication, receiving medical approvals, as well as booking virtual appointments with specialized doctors in less than a minute.”

These features, which previously took longer, are now available at the touch of a button,” Hamideddin said, adding that the app processes hundreds of thousands of approvals in an hour.

He pointed out that 22 million transactions have so far been carried out through the easy-to-use app, which has a rating of 4.5 on the App Store. Moreover, 98 percent of reimbursement claims have been processed digitally.