Allianz partners with digital platform Check24

The insurance giant Allianz has just announced its merger with a leading player in Germany, the first local online comparator Check24. Allianz Direct will now use the comparator's website as a new subscription channel for its offers, underlining the trend towards the platformisation of services.

FACTS

• The partnership between Allianz Direct and Check24 began as a pilot phase in August. The pilot phase was finally completed in order to finalise the integration of Allianz Direct's offer into Check24's comparison portal.

• The two new partners emphasise the benefits of their partnership for end customers who will now have access to Allianz Direct's offers directly from their comparison site.

• The roll-out of these offers is nevertheless planned in stages, with motor insurance initially being offered in Germany.

• The new partnership between Allianz and Check24 covers the German and Spanish markets.

CHALLENGES

• Gaining a new distribution channel: If Allianz Direct is approaching Check24 today, it is above all to take advantage of the platform's reputation and to benefit from a new showcase for its insurance offers.

• Relying on a major partner: Allianz Direct will not be the first bancassurance partner for Check24. The leading German online comparator has also approached BNP Paribas Cardif to enable it to distribute its insurance offers dedicated to home loans directly on its site.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• The combination of a new insurance player with a multi-service comparison platform such as Check24 underlines a fundamental trend in the platformisation of the economy and services.

• Rather than providers of various services, digital platforms are being promoted as a single point of access to multiple and increasingly varied services. They can be carried by new players integrating banking, insurance or payment offers (as Check24 is currently doing with insurance, for example). These platforms then enable bancassurance players to position their offers upstream, via property, hotel or travel comparison services, in order to automate subscriptions at the time the need arises (property insurance or credit at the time of a purchase, for example).  

• Conversely, many bancassurance players have given in to the siren song of partnerships to diversify by offering new services via their own channels, like CaixaBank for example, Citi or even more recently La Banque Postale or AG2R La Mondiale, which have turned towards Open Innovation. This strategy allows them to keep a firm grip on customer relations and to impose their own brand outside the confines of their core business.