Insurance has traditionally operated through closed technology environments. Insurers own the systems, control the data, and manage relationships through established channels.
Open Insurance challenges this model.
It proposes a more connected ecosystem in which insurance-related data and services can be securely accessed and shared through APIs, subject to customer consent, regulatory requirements, and appropriate security controls.
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) broadly describes Open Insurance as the access to and sharing of insurance-related personal and non-personal data, usually through APIs. It also identifies potential benefits in innovation, efficiency, and consumer choice while highlighting risks involving data protection, cybersecurity, interoperability, liability, and consumer protection.
Open Insurance can enable:
The central question is no longer whether insurers should expose APIs. It is how insurers can become trusted participants in an open insurance ecosystem without losing control of security, data, and customer relationships.
Banking demonstrated how open APIs can fundamentally change an industry. Insurance is now moving toward a similar question:
What happens when insurance becomes an ecosystem rather than a standalone product?
A customer buying a car may interact with a vehicle manufacturer, dealer, financing company, mobility platform, and insurer.
Instead of asking the customer to separately approach an insurer, insurance can become part of the broader digital journey.
This is the central promise of Open Insurance.
Traditional Model:
Customer → Agent → Insurer
Digital Model:
Customer → Insurer Digital Channel
Open Ecosystem::
Customer → Ecosystem Platform → Multiple Connected Services → Insurer
The insurer becomes part of a broader network.
Potential participants include:
APIs become the infrastructure connecting these ecosystems.
Examples include:
Customer Data APIs
Product APIs
Transaction APIs
Data APIs
Open Insurance Think Tank research specifically explores API access, insurance data standards, and ecosystem models.
One of the most visible outcomes of Open Insurance is embedded insurance.
Instead of:
“I need insurance.”
the customer experiences:
“Insurance is already part of the product I am buying.”
Examples include:
The insurance product becomes almost invisible.
This can improve distribution while reducing customer acquisition friction.
Expanded Distribution :
Insurers gain access to new customer ecosystems.
Better Customer Understanding :
Connected data can improve risk assessment.
Faster Product Innovation :
APIs make it easier to create new insurance journeys.
Lower Acquisition Costs :
Insurance can be embedded into existing transactions.
Real-time Decisioning :
Connected data can support immediate pricing and eligibility.
Open Insurance creates significant risks.
Data Privacy :
Insurance data can contain highly sensitive information. EIOPA highlights the possibility that data sharing can expose sensitive personal information and create new consumer-protection risks.
Cybersecurity :
Every additional integration increases the attack surface.
Interoperability :
Different insurers and ecosystems use different data models and standards.
Liability :
When multiple parties process data, responsibility for errors becomes more complex.
Consumer Consent :
Customers must understand what information is being shared and why.
Market Concentration:
Large platforms could potentially gain disproportionate control over insurance distribution.
A future architecture should include:
Consent Layer :
Customer authorization and consent management.
API Gateway :
Authentication, throttling, monitoring, and security.
Data Layer:
Trusted, governed insurance data.
Insurance Services :
Quotation, underwriting, issuance, claims and servicing.
Partner Ecosystem :
Banks, platforms, mobility companies, healthcare providers and other partners.
Governance Layer :
Privacy, cybersecurity, auditability and regulatory controls.
Open Insurance and AI reinforce each other.
Open ecosystems create more data.
AI can transform that data into:
However, more data does not automatically mean better insurance.
Poor-quality or biased data can result in poor decisions. EIOPA specifically notes that combining increased data sharing with AI/ML may create financial-exclusion risks.
Therefore:
Open data must be accompanied by responsible data governance.
Insurers preparing for Open Insurance should:
The future could look less like a traditional insurer and more like a digital insurance platform.
The insurer may provide modular services:
Risk assessment → Pricing → Policy → Claims → Data → Analytics
Partners can consume these capabilities through secure interfaces.
The competitive advantage will shift from owning every customer interaction to being the most trusted insurance capability within multiple ecosystems.
Open Insurance is not simply an API strategy.
It represents a structural change in how insurance products are designed, distributed, and consumed.
The insurer of the future will operate simultaneously as:
The central strategic principle should be:
Open where it creates value. Controlled where it creates risk.
Insurers that build secure, interoperable and customer-centric ecosystems will be better positioned to compete in an increasingly connected economy.