When you hear the terms Credit Cards & Loyalty, you don't immediately think of the insurance industry. What is behind?

Within the Industry department of the Albatros Corporate Broker, our credit card team forms an island, so to speak. As a broker, we look after international and national credit card programs and are in close contact with our B2B customers - the credit card issuing banks and financial service providers. Because they, in turn, want to offer their customers value-added insurance products that are either already integrated or optional on the credit cards. In this context, we work together with participating or potential insurers and service providers in the interest and for the benefit of our customers. In doing so, it is very important to us that we know the strategy and the needs of our customers or the credit card holders as end customers. Only this way do we have the chance to locate optimal and innovative insurance solutions on the market or develop them together with the banks and insurers.

Personally, I am responsible for the credit card portfolio of a large direct bank. I really enjoy my work because there is no routine due to the changing projects and new challenges await me almost every day. I have been in this position since the end of 2018, and I particularly enjoy being able to work creatively and innovatively in many places. It helps enormously to work with partners who pursue the same goal and to focus on the satisfaction of the customer or the benefits that result from the products.

That doesn't sound like classic insurance work at all. How is your work different from working with classic insurance solutions, for example?

Yes, that is true. Of course, we also have to deal with the usual tasks of a broker, such as insurance brokerage, the conclusion of insurance contracts or tenders. However, the main part of our work is project work for our clients. We are the interface between the banks as our direct customers and the insurers and take great care that the processes run smoothly. We supervise the development and subsequent introduction of new insurance solutions from start to finish and beyond. From the product itself, to the adaptation of the insurance conditions or product and customer information, to support in communication on the market, we are usually involved in all steps. We also like to do this together with our partners in workshops. We focus on the added value, especially for the cardholder, and look for the need to optimise the customer journeys, the websites and the landing pages.

This also includes regular observation of the market as well as talks with potential insurers and service providers to inform us about their innovations and products. Afterwards, we naturally check with the involvement of our clients whether the product could be considered as an innovative extension of the insurance offer with the next tender. At the same time, we monitor current or already arranged insurance programs and closely observe how they are accepted by cardholders. If the situation changes, e.g. due to new regulations, laws or changing customer needs, we see it as our absolute task to develop new proposals and drafts of what a possible adaptation could look like. Because if the cardholders - as the insured person of a group insurance contract - are satisfied, so is the bank as our customer. 

Can you give us a brief insight into such a project?

We recently placed a quarantine cost insurance policy to protect against unexpected costs when travelling due to a Corona infection or the ordering of a quarantine on various credit card programs. The product is similar to Lufthansa's Travel Care Basic product, which we also support as a broker. The quarantine cost insurance is a very young insurance solution that is alive and has developed and evolved with the pandemic over the past months. It is great to be able to launch such a product as a broker in time for the start of the summer holidays, and what is more, this is not a product of a classic insurance line. With the quarantine costs insurance, cardholders are given a certain amount of peace of mind when travelling, which has become especially valuable now in times of Corona.

We are already continuing to monitor the current situation, especially with regard to statements by the Permanent Vaccination Commission and the German Foreign Office on the topics of travel and testing, in order to make any necessary improvements.

How do you see the future of such insurance solutions and services?

In times like these, security against unexpected situations and the related financial losses is particularly important to our customers. The pandemic is still affecting all areas of life and people have realized more than ever before how quickly things can change. Insurance solutions that minimize the associated risks and provide security, e.g. when travelling, will continue to be in ever greater demand in the future. Linking insurance to common means of payment such as credit cards is a great added value that many credit card holders appreciate, and not only when travelling. Another example is the protection against online attacks when shopping on the internet, which has gained extremely in importance due to the pandemic and thus offers increasing risk potential. Here I am thinking in particular of the unauthorised tapping of payment or identity data or of support in online conflicts.  Because one thing is certain: We live in turbulent times and if insurance solutions can contribute to people feeling safer again or even safer in their personal environment, then we as brokers have done our job well with all those involved.

Thank you very much for the interview.

About Birgit Buchkremer
Birgit Buchkremer has been with the Delvag Group for over seven years. After her training and various positions in financial accounting at Deutsche Lufthansa AG, she moved to the Delvag Group in 2013, where she worked in the areas of banking and reinsurance, among others. After graduating as a specialist in insurance and finance, she has been part of the Credit Cards & Loyalty team at Albatros Firmenmakler since 2018, where she looks after various major customers from the financial sector in the area of credit cards and services.

Interview: Philipp Schmid, Corporate Communications Delvag Group