Amazon car insurance… whatever next?

Amazon India has announced that its local payments arm, Amazon Pay, has partnered with insurers Acko, in which it has a significant stake, to offer car and motor-bike insurance.

India is the first market where the e-commerce giant has decided to provide car insurance, a business based primarily on statistics and risk analysis. Many other insurance companies offer policies through the web, although not through a platform like Amazon. In addition, the company will offer as yet unspecified discounts and special benefits to subscribers to its Amazon Prime service, indicating its interest in testing the effect of cross-selling on a service such as insurance.

What impact will the move have on India’s insurance market? Many insurance companies have been offering information and pricing of insurance policies via the web for some time now, but the arrival of a giant with the power and visibility of Amazon could bring about significant changes. The CEO of Amazon Pay in India, Mahendra Nerurkar, announced that the company was also planning to enter the health and travel insurance market, and that taking out a policy could be done in less than two minutes and would not require any paperwork.

In addition, Amazon offers other services, such as hassle-free, paperless claims, pick-up in less than an hour, repairs in less than three days, and a one-year warranty on city repairs, as well as an immediate payment option for low-value parts. Considering the company’s usual aggressiveness in calculating its prices, the fact that it is already well established as a regular channel in the minds of many customers, and its ability to develop a service that is fundamentally based on customer and market information and knowledge, Amazon’s move is sure to cause quite a bit of concern in the industry.

The Indian market, which is enjoying strong growth and many possibilities, is one of the most strategic for the company, prompting it to use Amazon Pay on several occasions to test products or integrate channels. Insurance is a highly regulated and competitive market, so it is still too early to know if Amazon will apply its experiment to other countries.

What about you? Do you see yourself using Amazon to insure your vehicle?

(En espa?ol, aquí)

?