? Searching for a way to cater to younger adults, one insurer is offering a new product that uses details gleaned from photos to accelerate its life insurance quote process.
? Within several years, facial analytics may be used to predict the onset of a number of chronic diseases, potentially creating a powerful tool for insurers to use when engaging with customers.
After reading a LIMRA analysis that showed that many millennials would be willing to wear biometric trackers when interacting with insurance companies, Legal & General America Inc. Executive Vice President, Business Strategy and Innovation Jim Galli took action to capitalize on new technological trends.
Following roughly a yearlong process, Legal & General launched a new website with Lapetus Solutions Inc. in late July that provides a customer with a life insurance quote based on details garnered from a "selfie" photo. The website, SelfieQuote.com, uses facial analytics technology to estimate an individual's age, gender and body mass index. Consumers are then asked to complete a quick survey that helps to generate an insurance quote.
In an interview with S&P Global Market Intelligence, Galli and Lapetus Solutions Chief Marketing Officer Janet Anderson discussed the ramifications of the advances in facial analytics and insurtech on the life insurance industry. The following is an edited transcript of that conversation.
S&P Global Market Intelligence: The process of incorporating facial analytics into the life insurance quoting system is virtually unprecedented; how did the idea come about?
Jim Galli, executive vice president of business strategy and innovation, Legal & General America Source: Legal & General America |
Jim Galli:
How do you plan on accounting for certain disparities between the age predicted by the platform and a consumer's actual age when vast differences arise?
Galli:
We do give tips, if you take a photo that doesn't work, ensure your face is well lit, remove your glasses, push your hair away from your face, look straight into the camera and keep it at an arms' length. We never said it was like a carnival where we will guess your height, weight and age 100% [correctly]. There are pluses and minuses; there will be a few outliers at the end.
A longitudinal study on facial analytics showed that the accuracy rate for identifying smokers through the technology is about 85%, while the rate for correctly estimating a consumer's BMI is around 80%. Do the findings indicate that Lapetus Solutions' platform is reasonably accurate in helping determine a quote?
![]() Janet Anderson, chief marketing officer at Lapetus Solutions Source: Legal & General America |
Janet Anderson:
Lapetus Solutions co-Founder Jay Olshansky has mentioned that facial analytics technology may eventually be used to predict a wide range of medical conditions. How quickly can this be accomplished?
Anderson:
How concerned are you about the regulatory scrutiny the product could receive?
Galli: