Gen Re’s NOW App Uses Facial Analytics to Let Consumers Buy Insurance in Minutes

COLOGNE, Germany, Feb. 14 -- General Reinsurance, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, issued the following news release:

Gen Re's NOW app uses facial analytics technology to offer a quicker, easier - and fun - way to purchase Life, Hospital Cash or Accidental Death insurance. The prototype was just launched.

The buying process begins by uploading a selfie from your smartphone. Powered by Lapetus Solutions' JANUS facial analytics technology, the app then returns an estimate of the user's age, gender and BMI in an instant. This is followed by a streamlined onboarding process, meaning a policy can be issued to applicants in minutes.

Through the app, policyholders can also manage aspects of their insurance, such as "booking" specific days they want to be covered in the case of Accidental Death insurance.

Talking about the launch of the prototype, Dr. Winfried Heinen, Chairman of the Executive Board of General Reinsurance AG said:

"Gen Re understands the power of innovation and the launch of our NOW app is testament to our commitment to bringing the best ideas in the Insurtech space to our clients in order to develop insurance solutions that meet the expectations of today's tech-savvy and time-pressed consumers.

A key privilege of being a direct reinsurer is that we get to know our clients and their goals in great detail. Supporting the development of new products and services remains core to the Gen Re promise."

When asked about developing the NOW app, Dr. Dirk Nieder, Gen Re's Regional Director for Life/Health in Northeast Asia, replied:

"The collaboration with Lapetus Solutions brings us closer to the aim of allowing consumers to purchase insurance on their smartphone on the fly, say, in the same time it takes them to travel between two stops on the Tokyo subway. Besides its effect on speed and efficiency, we view the facial analytics module as a gamification feature that brings a more human focus to the onboarding process and attracts and motivates an increasingly tech-savvy audience. We're excited about working with clients in Asia and beyond to bring the benefits of the NOW app to their customers".

The NOW app is currently being tested in English, Japanese, (Traditional) Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian. It is one of a suite of Insurtech-based solutions that Gen Re is currently developing in collaboration with technology companies around the world, with our clients in mind. To find out more about how we are shaping the future of insurance, visit www.genre.com/futureofinsurance.

About Gen Re

Gen Re delivers reinsurance solutions to the Life/Health and Property/Casualty insurance industries. We work closely with our clients to understand their strategic and operational goals, offering a wide range of products, tools and resources that aim to promote our clients' ongoing growth and success.

Gen Re is a member of the Berkshire Hathaway family of companies and has earned superior financial strength ratings from each of the major rating agencies. We take our commitments very seriously. And with $14 billion in capital and $6 billion in premiums, we only make promis-es we can keep. www.genre.com

About Lapetus

Lapetus Solutions Inc. (LSI) integrates science and technology with machine learning to devel-op tools and platforms that enable industries relying on life event prediction to reduce and replace their dependence on traditional assessment methods with faster, more cost-effective and increasingly accurate results. www.lapetussolutions.com