How improving the customer experience can build trust

We hear it all the time: Today’s consumers have little to no tolerance for bad customer experiences. Insurers have long invested in customer experience, and in an increasingly volatile world, that focus matters even more.

Deloitte projects that in 2026, customer expectations for insurance carriers will evolve quickly and redefine value, convenience and trust. The margin for error could not be thinner: recent InsightCloud research revealed that 83% of consumers would switch insurance carriers over a bad claims experience.

This should be a wake-up call for an industry that is built on trust. The message: Trust is fleeting. Millennial and Generation Z demands are putting more pressure on insurers to earn their trust by delivering the services they want – things such as fast payouts and frictionless digital communications. Insurers that don’t respond risk losing business.

How can insurers instill trust? Here are four ways they can use modern payment processes to keep customers from losing confidence in insurers’ ability to meet their needs.

Provide easy access payment systems

This creates a host of issues for insurers beyond immediate compliance concerns.

First, insurers who don’t give their entire policy base access to preferred payment options miss out on an opportunity to increase digital adoption. When customers can’t access or figure out a payment option, they’ll stop the process and delay payment. In the same survey, one in three Americans said they will stop using digital payments altogether if the available options do not meet their accessibility needs.

Insurers also risk other types of consumer backlash. Digital payment offerings are among an insurer’s most consistent – and sometimes, only – customer touchpoints. If customers can’t navigate digital payments, they can lose confidence in the entire organization.

Accessible payment options are important to a wide range of customers. Insurers should provide multilingual options and serve low-income or rural communities that may have limited access to traditional technology or banking infrastructure. If an insurer’s system doesn’t meet everyone’s needs, it signals that experience isn’t one of the organization’s top priorities.

Beyond being inclusive and compliant, accessibly designed payments provide other benefits. When users can easily navigate an insurer’s site, complete a payment or enroll in AutoPay without hitting a wall, they generate fewer support calls.

Make payment options convenient

As digital convenience becomes the norm in consumer life, residents now expect their insurance vendors to offer equally seamless online payment experiences. An InvoiceCloud study shows younger audiences overwhelmingly prefer online or mobile payments over checks or in-person visits. Millennials (56%) and Gen Z (48%) are more likely to use AutoPay and online portals, while Generation X and baby boomers are gradually following suit. Offering multiple payment channels and paperless billing options will help insurers meet residents where they are — and how they prefer to pay.

People not only prefer digital payment options – they expect a variety of choices, starting with credit cards, ACH and digital wallets. They also expect their billing and payment platforms to encourage self-service, giving them access to AutoPay enrollment, paperless billing enrollment and guest checkout routes.

Providing flexible digital payment services makes it easier for customers to pay on their terms. This has become standard practice for any payment experience today.

Show security standards

Even before price and before convenience, consumers’ first question when engaging in a commercial transaction is: “Is this safe?”

Visible fraud prevention can reassure customers that the system they’re using is secure. When users see familiar, trusted authentication standards like multifactor authentication and single sign-on, it signals that their information is being handled responsibly. These visible safeguards communicate that your organization takes security seriously. This builds confidence during every interaction. Without them, even a well-designed experience can feel risky.

Leverage branded experiences to increase engagement

Consumer trust has eroded even further when it comes to inbound communications. Phishing activity is at an all-time high, and organizations train their customers to avoid emails and texts that they don’t immediately recognize. This poses problems for insurers who need to reach customers with payment reminders, questions and follow-up information.

The key difference-maker is trust. When deciding whether to click on a communication, more likely to trust branded messages that come from a familiar sender name or domain. The data also shows that emails routed through third-party domains erode that trust.

Consumers want to feel confident that the organization contacting them is legitimate, and branded email domains seem to be the quickest way to earn their trust. Otherwise, they are significantly less likely to engage.

Insurers understand that today’s consumers have more choices, less time, more refined preferences and less patience than ever before when it comes to making payments. To earn consumers’ business, insurers must earn their trust. By making payment systems accessible, convenient, safe and trustworthy, insurers can keep customer relationships strong.

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Sarah Woodard is director of insurance product management at InvoiceCloud. Contact her at [email protected].