An app provides financial incentives for safe driving

The app leverages gamification to provide drivers with feedback and guidance on how to avoid common mistakes

Spotted: Driver telematics is a growing field that aims to encourage positive changes in driver behaviour through data analysis and insight. Telematics systems tend to fall into three camps: app-based systems, ‘black boxes’ that record data in the background, and systems that provide instant driver feedback through visual cues such as dashboard lights and pictures. Black box systems, in particular, have been used by insurers to provide drivers in high-risk groups (notably young and new drivers) with the opportunity to reduce their premiums.

Now, Carrot, South Korea’s leading insurtech company, is taking the idea of driver behaviour change further with the release of a new mobile app that financially incentivises users to drive safely. The app monitors a driver’s risky behavior alongside other variables, such as vehicle mileage, to determine a safe-driving score

What sets Carrot’s app apart from similar alternatives is its focus on gamification – an approach that leverages points, competitions, and rewards to improve engagement and elicit the desired results. As such, the app is equipped with features such as missions, cashable rewards, virtual characters, leaderboards, and a progress bar. Drivers will be able to redeem their points for prizes while receiving personalised feedback to help them improve their skills.

The ultimate goal of Carrot’s gamified approach is to positively influence driver behavior, impart more effective safe-drive discipline, and promote higher customer satisfaction, brand awareness, and product understanding. And from a commercial perspective, the company hopes to convert app users into insurance clients through targeted and experiential marketing.

“We’ve launched the Members Auto to accommodate [the] safety and well-being of our current customers and the millions of drivers who are out on the road,” explains Paul Jung, CEO of Carrot. “We hope that incentivising drivers to cultivate good road safety habits with financial rewards will reduce traffic incidents and build a safer community…”

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