Starting off this month , we feature Louw Hopley , Founder and CEO of Root .

Root is an end-to-end insurance platform that helps companies build , sell and manage digital insurance products across the globe . Recently , the company has partnered with FinChoice – the sister company to HomeChoice – to revolutionise personal accident insurance in South Africa .

The new product , underwritten by Guardrisk , offers a lump sum of up to R50,000 for accidental death and permanent disability , plus an additional R2,000 which can be used for airtime , travel or groceries .

Using Root ' s InsurTech platform , FinChoice has been able to launch this insurance product faster and more efficiently . The speed to market has been cut drastically , and the system allows customers to be covered as soon as they sign up .

On page 48 , Hopley tells us more about this partnership , and the current state of South Africa ’ s insurance industry , as well as offering invaluable advice to decision-makers looking to expand into this sector .

This theme continues on page 39 , where Ben Burger , Managing Executive at SilverBridge , dives deeper into South Africa and the opportunities embedded insurance presents for companies . Burger also explores the protection gap within the region and how embedded insurance can help reduce it at the point of sale , helping consumers get immediate coverage for any high-value goods purchased .

We move across the globe to North America , in our Regional Review . On page 44 , we inspect the latest US Treasury report , detailing the opportunities and challenges faced by the financial sector and businesses migrating to the cloud .

We feature another report on page 63 . In our Expert Forecast , Sebastian Grady , President of Strategic Initiatives , Rimini Street , expands on Rimini Street ’ s latest study . Here , he discusses how scarcity of budget , IT skills and labour affect a company ’ s Digital Transformation roadmap and the biggest challenge for CIOs .

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Finally , on page 67 , Harsha Maloo , Head of Payments at Synthesis , sets out to define Open Banking and highlights the positive impacts it can have on financial services when utilised and scaled correctly .

We also have a range of ‘ intelligent ’ pages , which feature the latest in the cloud , security , mobile , software , blockchain and Artificial Intelligence .

I hope you enjoy this issue and if you would like to contribute to any future editions then please do not hesitate to contact me .

Catherine Darwen , Editor www . intelligentfin . tech

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