How can I buy a medical insurance plan in Hong Kong without an agent or a broker?
Bowtie is an authorized virtual insurance company that meets the same high standards that what customers and the Insurance Authority expect traditional insurers meet. You can apply, get insured and claim directly through our user-friendly online platform.
Our co-founder and co-CEO, Fred Ngan, has interviewed 100 customers, let’s learn more about Bowtie customers’ experience:
Our biggest breakthrough has been dramatically reducing the time it takes to submit an application for underwriting. Nearly half of our customers completed applications in one take, doing so in between 10 – 15 minutes. That’s an amazing accomplishment compared to conventional channels.
We invested significant effort in building an experience that’s simple and intuitive. We hid the complexity from our customers, while helping them move through the process confidently. This has resulted in more than 85% satisfaction with the application process.
For our customers who took longer to complete their application, we still have much work to do. Our software team will continue to make our platform easier to use on any device, while being more resilient to unexpected user behaviors.
Although we have a dedicated team of healthcare and customer service professionals ready to help, we haven’t done enough to let users know about their existence.
We are proud of the fact that 60% of customers completed their applications without any human support. However, it’s equally important to us to be there to help when our customers need us.
40% of the interviewed customers contacted customer support. Some had genuine questions about our products, plans and features, and the application process. Other were curious to see whether we have a well-trained customer support team that’s responsive. We are glad to have exceeded our customer’s expectations.
Our customers are able to access their personal dashboard from their smartphone, find up-to-date plan and coverage details. This has the benefit of freeing up our customer support team from routine requests, allowing them to take care of trickier questions on plan features, underwriting problems, and claims.
This has resulted in positive and personal customers, where many customers recall the names of their customer service representatives.
Many of the interviewed customers want more products. They are interested in products like critical illness coverage, cancer protection, and life insurance coverage. We’ve taken this feedback close to heart, and recently launched our cancer product and an outpatient service that improves the experience of going to the doctor. Life insurance and critical illness coverage are on the way.
Some customers mentioned that our pricing isn’t competitive enough for ages 0 – 5 or over 65. Others are concerned about whether a new company like our’s will be around in the long term. Several customers want to see us build a mobile app. A few think we need to get better at handling postponed cases for applicants who need to submit more medical history information.
Some customers found and logged bugs. Others gave us suggestions for product features that we’ve taken to our product team. One of our latest features that came from our customers is the “save and resume” feature for customers who can’t finish an application in one-go, and need to come back later to resume it.
To deliver a delightful user experience, we will continue our weekly platform updates and feature releases. This will support our ever growing catalog of insurance products.
36% of the interviewed customers have already referred us to family, friends or colleagues. 33% of them plan to recommend Bowtie if asked.
We’re excited by stories of young parents trusting us with their whole family’s insurance. In one case, one of them bought 10 policies for the whole family.
Other customers want to wait and see how we handle their claims when the time comes. If they are satisfied with the claims experience, they would be more comfortable in referring their friends to us.
Most if not all want some kind of referral incentive. We will continue to improve our BowtieCash rewards program, and invest in providing discounts on other healthcare services like body checkups.
The 1,500 minutes I spent on the phone with our customers rewarded me with surprising insights about our customers. Some share our values and philosophy, while others just think we’re a fun take at a traditionally serious topic. I’ve tried my best to keep it casual and fun, asking for feedback directly and opening, so nothing is lost in communication.
The people who picked up my calls come from all walks of life. Primary school teachers, bankers, entrepreneurs, NGO workers, undergraduate students, software engineers, nurses, former insurance agents, job seekers, housewives and more. Some of my calls have led to job interviews, business partnerships, and even friendships.
I’m humbled by everyone’s patience and honesty. I’m inspired to do more for Hong Kong, and to lead Bowtie in our pursuit of our mission. We can be Hong Kong’s best digital insurer, and at the same time have the human touch that our customers trust.
© 2024 Bowtie Life Insurance Company Limited. All rights reserved.
