Pooling and repooling risk

The limits of Insurtech platforms in inclusive insurance

Bibliographic Data

ID4495281
AuthorsYannick Perticone (0000-0002-6906-4331, University of Lausanne, corresponding author), Jean‐christophe Graz (0000-0002-5583-8332, University of Lausanne)
Year2024
Volume10
Issue3
Pages251-267
Publication date2024-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFinance and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2059-5999 • E-ISSN: 2059-5999
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/fas.2024.8
OpenAlexW4404419458
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited43

This article investigates the promise of Insurtech to expand the frontier of the insurance market to include vulnerable populations around the world. It contributes to current debates on the proliferation of new technologies for financial inclusion as embedded in contemporary forms of platform-based capitalism. We argue that Insurtech's promises fall short of expectations because of the contradiction between the principles of platform scalability and insurance risk pooling. Such contradictions lead Insurtech platforms to unpool risk rather than provide innovative technologies to pool it. This ultimately limits the expansion of markets for inclusive insurance as Insurtech platforms struggle to scale up the market through their supposedly disruptive technology. Our analysis draws on a range of regulatory reports, complemented by in-depth interviews with Insurtech executive officers. The article offers insights into the contradictory principles currently driving the digital inclusive insurance market, as well as the limits to the ongoing global expansion of platform capitalism

Actuarial science · Business · Casualty insurance · Insurance policy · Pooling · Risk pool · Computer Science · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Sharing Economy and Platforms · Artificial Intelligence

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