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Aflac Life Insurance Japan Ltd. (Tokyo) has deployed Nok Nok Labs’ (San Jose, Calif.) Nok Nok S3 Authentication Suite (NNL S3 Suite), working with Fujitsu Limited (Tokyo) as the insurer’s implementation partner.
Michihiko Ejiri, VP, Fujitsu Limited.
Aflac Japan, which services over 15 million customers, was the first insurance provider to offer cancer insurance in Japan. As of Dec. 2018, Aflac Japan customers have been able to utilize biometric authentication on their mobile devices to request immediate payment service for their cancer treatments, significantly reducing the time and efforts involved in the submission of paperwork required to prove their identity, according to a Nok Nok statement. Patients can now easily and securely log in and process insurance claims using any biometric authentication method of their choice, such as fingerprint or face recognition. The Aflac mobile application provides a fast, frictionless user experience paired with strong security that leverages FIDO global authentication standards.
“Aflac is the first Japanese insurance provider to deploy a FIDO-certified solution, and we would like to continue collaborating with Nok Nok Labs to introduce it to banks, insurance industry and other industries,” comments Michihiko Ejiri, VP, Head of Portal Service Division, Service Technology Unit, Fujitsu Limited.
Biometrics Research Group, Inc. estimates that the entire global marketplace for biometric solutions in the healthcare market will reach approximately US$5 billion by 2020. While adoption of biometric authentication is in early stages in the InsureTech field, recent deployments, including from Aflac, show the opportunity for next generation authentication applied to insurance payments, according to a joint Nok Nok and Fujitsu statement.
Phillip Dunkelberger, CEO, Nok Nok Labs.
The statement characterizes the NNL S3 Suite as providing Aflac customers with strong authentication to their mobile insurance payment application using any biometrics on their iOS and Android devices. The NNL S3 Suite also provides Fujitsu and its customers with a scalable method to authenticate users that is interoperable with their existing security environments and reduces or eliminates the reliance on usernames and passwords, the vendors say.
Secure, Yet Easily Accessible
“Insurance claim systems contain vital information that need to be secure, yet easily accessible for patients. We are pleased that Aflac chose to utilize the Nok Nok Labs technology through our partner Fujitsu, to enable strong and easy to use authentication that allows patients to process their claims with robust security, but with less burden to the end user,” comments Phillip Dunkelberger, CEO, Nok Nok Labs. “Fujitsu should be commended for this very successful deployment with Aflac.”