By Rosemary Onuoha

The move by the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, to digitize insurance processes from this year may not be feasible if there is no close monitoring on insurance companies.

Chairman, Sovereign Trust Insurance (STI) Plc, Mr. Oluseun Ajayi, who disclosed this to Vanguard, noted that the initiative is a right step in the right direction if properly monitored and implemented.

It will be recalled that the Acting Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Sunday Thomas has said that NAICOM has commenced the process of attaining the full digitization of insurance business in Nigeria.

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Thoms said: “As part of the Commission’s effort to develop the insurance market, it has commenced the process of attaining the full digitization of insurance business in Nigeria in order to keep tap with current realities. There is no hiding the fact in saying that the industry is currently lagging behind other financial services sectors in this regards.

“The Commission is now more prepared to drive the IT revolution in the sector starting with itself. It is on this premise that NAICOM is working assiduously to see that all its operations are done online and real time by digitalising its processes and encouraging the industry to imbibe same. Appropriate steps are being taking to launch the Commission’s portal which will go a long way in blocking leakages in the sector.”

Ajayi however said that for the initiative to thrive, insurance operators must invest in robust information technology.

Vanguard