Can Mobile App Startups Disrupt the Insurance Industry?

Insurance, along with medical care, is one of our country’s biggest industries — yet also one of the slowest to adapt to updates in mobile technology. The accelerated pace of FinTech adoption by the mainstream public, however, could signal a sea change for insurance.

Clearly, consumer confidence in mobile tech has grown to the point where they’ll trust their finances with it. Trusting their health and well-being with mobile apps is the next natural step. The only problem is that iPhone app developers have yet to produce a truly disruptive mobile insurance solution.

True, startups like Oscar have popped up here and there to take a hip, millennial spin on the traditional model — but Oscar and other light updates to the regular private insurance model have been slow to grow, struggling to maintain profits in the wake of the Affordable Care Act.

However, the chaos, uncertainty, and dysfunction of the insurance industry is exactly what makes it a perfect pick for a truly disruptive mobile app startup. After all, the best apps solve huge problems — just as Uber solved transportation and Mint solved financial organization, a mobile app positioned to provide a “smart” insurance could completely change the current state-brokered system. iPhone app developers are currently starting to look at blockchain technologies and other novel, digital solutions to eliminate risk and reduce cost friction between insurer and insured.

IoT devices also promise to play a big part in a mobile insurance ecosystem, as the ability to self-track, monitor and assess risks in real-time lower the cost of premiums. More than simply fitness-tracking, innovative insurance startups could plug directly into the emerging mobile MedTech app development industry, creating win-win arrangements between Boston iPhone app developers in different verticals.