• Root’s insurance APIs enabled the launch of a WhatsApp-based insurance bot in under two weeks for CarSure
• This solution combines Root technology with Dialogflow and Twilio to enable a reimagined customer experience
• The WhatsApp-based app is actively selling policies since it launched in August 2019

Root, a financial services platform committed to redefining FinTech innovation, collaborated with CarSure, an insurance product underwritten by Guardrisk, to create a South African first – a bot capable of selling insurance on WhatsApp. Root provided CarSure with the expertise and technology building blocks required to develop a convenient, affordable and simple way of accessing buy-down cover using South Africa’s most popular messaging platform.

“CarSure felt that their self-service website still had too much friction to create a seamless experience for their travelling customers,” says Louw Hopley, CEO of Root. “They believed that they could streamline their policy onboarding flow significantly with an automated chatbot on WhatsApp. As the messaging company had launched their WhatsApp Business APIs, it meant that we had the tools and expertise in place to help CarSure make this objective a reality fast.”

The Root team connected CarSure with an experienced software developer who was able to build the chatbot conversation flow and ensure that it was optimised to deliver effective customer engagement and a high-end experience. Using Root’s developer-friendly insurance APIs and real-time webhooks, along with Dialogflow for natural language processing and Twilio to access WhatsApp, the team pulled the various building blocks together into a functional and cohesive solution in under two weeks.

“The extraordinary speed with which our new WhatsApp bot, using the Root insurance APIs, went from concept to launch was impressive,” says Richard Eales, Non-Life Managing Executive, Guardrisk. “Now we can focus on marketing and driving more sales through this exciting new channel.”

Root provided CarSure with the building blocks, community of developers and expertise required to create a fully functional bot within an impressive timescale and with equally impressive abilities. The app was launched on 23 August 2019 and is actively selling policies in the market.