There's a great article in The Economist (link below) about conscious decoupling, which is the subject of a recent book by Thales Teixeira of Harvard Business School.
In (my own!) simplified terms, the idea is that, by removing steps in the process required to consume a product or service, companies can drive up usage. A classic example is how Uber removes the need to hunt for a cab.
The significance of all this for financial services is that surely there's a big, largely untested opportunity to decouple the process of researching and buying financial products, which consumers tend not to like, from consumption.
For example, when flat-sharers advertise or find a place on a website, why can't insurance for their high-value or special possessions be included in the booking process? Today few renters go to the trouble of finding a renters policy, so many have no cover at all. Or, in the process of taking out a mortgage, why can't buying life cover be included.
I accept that customers should shop around to get a good deal, but provided the deal is in line with the market, which could be achieved if the so-called decoupling is impartial, then surely some cover is better than no cover.
THINK ABOUT the companies like Uber and Airbnb that have burst through into public consciousness in the past ten years. While many of them depend on the internet, their success is not down to any particular technological innovation of their own design. Instead, their secret lies in their business model.
https://www.economist.com/business/2019/03/02/conscious-decoupling
