PNB Metlife launches first ever virtual reality customer service platform

19 December, Hyderabad

PNB MetLife, one of India’s leading life insurance companies launched conVRse, a first-of-its-kind Virtual Reality (VR) based customer service platform here Monday.

Insurance Regulatory and Development Autghority (IRDA) Chairman T S Vijayan who launched the conVRse along with Nilesh Sathe, Member Life IRDAI in the presence of Tarun Chugh, MD & CEO, PNB MetLife at the company regional office here said “My tryst with technology goes back to the early days of LIC. I believe that the core target audience for Life insurance are the young people. We need to create innovative engagement modules through gaming or interactive format to target that group and excite them. As a regulator our concern is that the customer gets the best service even in the remotest of locations. My vision is to automate the entire customer experience from sales, KYC, post sales on versatile platforms. I compliment PNB MetLife for doing this.”

Tarun Chugh said “Our ongoing investment in technology underscores our philosophy to support continuous innovation and customer centricity. We are delighted to bring this ground breaking technology conVRse to our customers and revolutionize the concept of customer service for the 21st century”.

Chugh further added: “The next phase of innovation for the life insurance industry is dawning, and we are proud to be leading from the front. I would like to thank the IRDAI for their support and guidance on bringing this innovative solution to our customers in India.”

Tarun said conVRse was an experiential virtual reality platform built in collaboration between MetLife’s innovation center – LumenLab in Singapore and PNB MetLife in India. This was the first time that virtual reality was being used in the insurance industry to benefit the customers directly through superior experience and availability of experts. ” It aims to provide a differentiated, immersive and a personalized experience to the customer through the VR headset available in 15 PNB MetLife branches across 10 cities. When customers put on the VR headset they find themselves in a 3D simulated virtual room, face to face with an avatar “Khushi”, our life insurance expert. The customers simply need to walk into the select PNB MetLife branches, wear the VR headset and get all their servicing requirements fulfilled by Khushi. The platform will display policy related information and uniquely engage the customers through visual assist elements like animations”, he added.