Online Cancer Care
Making insurance more accessible by developing new products, distribution channels, and processes for online adoption.
My role
As a product manager of FWD, I took on both specialist-level product development responsibilities and led cross-functional teams to research, design, develop and launch the first online life insurance product in both FWD and the Vietnam market.
Challenge: Bridging industry norms to innovate
Life insurance product development follows deeply entrenched norms, making innovation a challenge. Transforming these norms was not just an obstacle, but the key to creating a new online insurance product.
Traditional norms in life insurance
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Product Development Mindset and Approach: Products are mainly designed for salability, considering voices of sales agents and prioritizing market competitiveness in pricing and benefits. Internal teams (pricing, operations, and marketing) define the product based on business goals and industry benchmarks without customer input.
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Customer Communication: Policy documents are lengthy (dozens of pages), filled with technical jargon, and require hours of agent consultation to explain.
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Processes & Underwriting: Standardized processes for underwriting, claims, and customer service apply across products.
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Distribution Channel: Sales agents are the sole distribution channel
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Regulation: There had been no regulatory approval for online insurance product and distribution yet
Key innovation challenge
To launch an online insurance product, we had to shift the internal and external mindset—rethinking product design, customer communication, and distribution while gaining regulatory approval for online sales.
Approach: Redefining insurance in the digital era
Let customers speak
Customer Research
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Conducted interviews with target customers to define personas and validate product concepts.
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Identified Cancer Insurance as the most in-demand product, which is simple, essential, and highly relevant.
Testing
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Conducted usability testing with potential customers to refine the user experience.
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Performed UAT (User Acceptance Testing) for system adaptations.
Think Outside the Box
Product Design & Development
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Simplified benefits & definitions of multi-stage cancer coverage, ensuring clarity and affordability with price as low as two cups of coffee.
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Transformed policy materials into visual, concise, and jargon-free content to improve accessibility.
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Created a seamless online registration process with new user flows and prototypes
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Designed an instant quote generator requiring only three inputs: gender, age, and coverage amount.
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Developed a guided, step-by-step purchase flow to prevent overwhelming users.
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Shortened the underwriting & claim process, tailoring it to online customers with minimal requirements.
Breaking Distribution Barriers
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Partnered with new online distribution channels including e-commerce platforms, lifestyle apps, and digital banking.
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Initiated regulatory discussions, securing approval for online life insurance distributed fully online for the first time in Vietnam.
Impact: A Game-changer in digital insurance
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170% of the annual revenue target achieved in 10 months
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Registration process reduced from 3 days to 5 minutes
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Winner: "New Insurance Product of the Year – Asia"
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4 major online distribution partners onboarded (Tiki, Traveloka, Vietcombank, ACB Bank)
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Redefined accessibility in life insurance
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Set a new benchmark for digital insurance product development
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Final Thoughts: The true challenge was mindset shift
Launching Cancer Care Insurance as an online product took twice as long as a traditional insurance product, one year instead of six months. However, much of this time was spent not on product design alone but on influencing and aligning internal and external stakeholders.
From reshaping internal processes to securing regulatory approval, our team managed to bring life insurance online. Staying resilient to the mission was critical, proving that, with the right approach, even the most traditional industries can innovate.