Bitesize InsurTech: Fing
January 20, 2018 George Hanks
Fing helps consumers and small businesses monitor, manage and insure connected devices at home or at the workplace.
Fing has two main products:
- ‘Fing App’ provides a summary of network activity. This includes an inventory of all users and connected devices e.g. mobile phones and laptops.
- ‘Fingbox’ is a piece of hardware with all Fing App features. It can also interact with connected devices in the network (e.g. blocking of unwanted devices) and observe network features in greater detail (e.g. identifying areas of potential weakness in the network)
Fing has three insurance use-cases:
1. Smart gadget insurance
The Fing App platform can be embedded into insurers’ own apps to augment their gadget insurance proposition, examples include:
- Easy enrolment: the app gathers data about connected devices (e.g. make, model) which reduces the amount of information a user needs to provide to buy insurance
- Upselling: the app detects when a new gadget is connected to the network and offers insurance for the new device
- Fraud detection: detects devices that reappear in networks after a claim has been made
2. Connected home insurance proposition
The Fing App platform allows insurers to offer a connected home insurance proposition. For example, the Fingbox can receive data from connected devices from around the home (e.g. motion sensors) to notify customers of any potential loss events.
3. Cyber security
The Fingbox platform identifies weaknesses in networks, allowing insurers to better assess an individual’s or business’s cyber risks and proactively prompt customers to take remedial action to mitigate against losses.
Insurers seem to be interested; AmTrust launched TapSafeTM a smart connected warranty product in partnership with Fing at CES earlier in January. Halifax, Lloyds Bank and Banca Intesa have used Fing in connected home insurance pilots.
The Oxbow Partners view
We like the gadget insurance angle. Insurers can make the buying process quick and simple for consumers, a good thing given our skepticism about insurance propositions that require more consumer engagement. We also like the utilisation of existing connected devices in the connected home insurance proposition – this avoids the high upfront costs seen in other connected home propositions (e.g. Neos (Bitesize), where £650 of connected technology is installed at the start of a policy).
Fing also provides additional value to businesses. Firstly, the cyber security use-case helps mitigate potentially devastating losses. Secondly, Fingbox facilitates the keeping of an up-to-date device inventory (useful for managing IT estates), meaning businesses can be confident that all active devices are insured, whilst not paying insurance for decommissioned devices.
This article was edited on 24.01.2018 on request of Fing. Please note that Fing’s connected home proposition can access sensor data, for use by insurance companies. We apologise for any confusion caused.