No piece of paper at the end, the reason why many Hungarians do not do their business online
33% of Hungarians are open to digital innovations and 40% are experienced internet users, according to the latest representative survey by Aegon Insurance, but the proportion of those who feel they are not at home in the online world is relatively high at 27%.
According to the data, online administration is now inevitable: 52% of respondents explicitly aim to manage their affairs exclusively online, while a further 20% regularly use online solutions. The proportion of those who use this channel very rarely is 7%, while 13% do so exclusively offline.
THE SURVEY SHOWS THAT SLIGHTLY MORE THAN HALF OF RESPONDENTS, 57%, USE ONLINE PAYMENT METHODS: MOST OF THEM PAY FOR TELECOMS SERVICES ONLINE.
77% of those with insurance also use online customer services to pay their fees. Those who prefer online administration like it because they find it fast and convenient (80% and 71% respectively), but there is also a high share of those who cite efficiency or environmental friendliness as advantages, well above 40%.
The survey also looked specifically at the attitudes of those with insurance - 73% of all respondents - towards online transactions: the most common online transactions, apart from paying premiums, are changing data, entering into a contract and downloading documents. 40% of those with insurance use online channels for claims handling, an area where there is room for growth.
BUT THERE ARE ALSO FACTORS THAT STILL KEEP PEOPLE FROM GOING DIGITAL. THE TWO MOST POWERFUL DETERRENTS ARE THE LACK OF PERSONAL TOUCH AND THE LACK OF A PIECE OF PAPER AT THE END OF THE PROCESS.
The latter is also worth mentioning because, in the online process, the customer services generate the same documents as in the face-to-face process, but they are stored digitally, users can download them to their own computers, so they cannot be lost, they are easier to find, and in reality, they bring many benefits to the lives of customers. 32% of those in the "abstainers" camp prefer to deal with their cases in person, 14% prefer to do so by phone.
60% of those with insurance would also be open to doing it exclusively online - but they also cite the lack of answers to any questions they may have, whether about administration, product details or the "small print". In fact, this concern could also be considered as an unfounded fear: the chat functions of online helpdesks provide quick answers to any questions that may arise. This fact, together with the lack of assistance mentioned by those who prefer to do their business online, suggests that these intelligent features are not widely known even among those who use online channels.
However, the sticking to paper and the habit of telephone customer services are still a major deterrent, and Aegon's new campaign is a response to this, the insurer told Portfolio.
Cover photo: Getty Images
