InsurTech4Good.com Weekly Newsletter – #28, 2025

Exactly a year ago, I announced here that I was leaving EIOPA. How has it been since then? I wrote a bit about it, including what I’m up to these days. If I had to summarize it in one sentence: much more freedom, and a bit more uncertainty. Read more here if you’re interested.

Now, to this week’s newsletter.

President von der Leyen has just delivered the 2025 State of the Union. The speech was heavy on geopolitics, but there were also important signals for financial services, insurance, and innovation.

A roadmap to strengthen the Single Market and cut fragmentation, new measures to channel more capital into Europe’s startups, and plans for a European Innovation Act and Industrial Accelerator Act all point to a stronger push for competitiveness.

The Commission also announced a new Scaleup Europe Fund to support companies in critical technologies like AI, quantum and biotech, an issue closely tied to Europe’s tech sovereignty.

On the regulatory side, the upcoming Cloud and AI Development Act and the Digital Fairness Act will shape the use of data, digital distribution, and consumer protection, all highly relevant for insurers and InsurTechs.

The message is clear: less fragmentation, more capital for European scale-ups, stricter fairness standards, and stronger innovation capacity. Exciting times ahead.

This week’s newsletter also touches on the SIU from different angles, whether it is FIDA, the supplementary pensions review, or the Digital Fairness Act, all viewed through the lens of innovation. I also look at how InsurTech can impact financial inclusion and how synthetic data can support innovation.

Hope you find it useful, and do share it with colleagues if you think they might benefit.

Andres

Synthetic Data: Opportunities and Risks for Financial, Insurance, and Supervisory Innovation

Synthetic data is gaining traction in finance and insurance, both for innovators and supervisors. 

It can help fill data gaps, protect privacy, and support fairness in areas like lending or healthcare. But governance risks remain: if poorly generated, it may perpetuate bias or mislead decision-makers. 

Supervisors are also exploring its use, from the EU Digital Finance Platform’s Data Hub to the FCA’s recent governance report. 

The EDPS has likewise stressed its data protection implications.

Read my full analysis here. 

How InsurTech Enables Financial Inclusion

Financial inclusion increasingly depends on the ability of financial services to reach underserved individuals and communities. Insurance plays a critical role by protecting against risks that undermine economic stability.

A recent AFI report highlights how technology-driven innovations are reshaping access, usage, and quality of financial services. InsurTech, in particular, is making coverage more accessible, affordable, and relevant through new technologies, business models, and regulatory enablers.

Key examples include AI for underwriting and claims automation, blockchain for transparency and smart contracts, parametric products for quick payouts, and telematics for usage-based insurance. Together, these tools expand access, encourage uptake, and improve service quality.

The success of InsurTech relies on the right enablers: supportive policies (such as clear rules for data protection and product disclosure), market readiness (mobile penetration, secure data storage, IoT devices), and active industry players driving innovation.

 Read the full blog here. 

What the EU Data Act and Vehicle Data Guidance Mean for Insurers, OEMs, and Insurance Innovators

The EU Data Act is now applicable, and the European Commission has released new guidance on vehicle data. The rules have direct implications for insurers, OEMs, suppliers, and service providers.

Read more here. 

Estonia’s Savings and Investments Account (Investeerimiskonto): A Blueprint for the EU’s Savings and Investments Union (SIU)

The European Commission’s Savings and Investments Union (SIU) strategy, published in March 2025, aims to mobilise household savings into productive investments and deepen EU capital markets.

A central pillar is the creation of savings and investments accounts that are simple, digital, and attractive for retail investors.

As the SIU Communication puts it:

“Experience in some Member States has already shown the potential for savings and investments accounts to boost retail participation in capital markets, especially when such accounts are matched with appropriate incentives. In the more successful examples, those savings and investments accounts are easy to use and designed with digital interfaces that give access to a wide range of appropriate products, offer preferential tax rates or simplified tax processes, and allow a change of provider for no or low cost.”

One of those “successful examples” already exists: Estonia’s savings and investments account (investeerimiskonto). 

It is a proven model that combines tax efficiency, digital simplicity, and broad eligibility of assets - including innovative ones like crowdfunding and crypto-assets, and traditional ones such as insurance-linked investments.

Read the full overview here. 

Different Perspectives on FiDA and Open Finance from the Latest EUROFI Magazine

The latest EUROFI magazine, published after the recent EUROFI Copenhagen meeting, gathered a wide range of views on Financial Data Access Framework Proposal (FiDA) and the broader Open Finance agenda. The diversity of opinions is striking and, in my view, essential for a healthy democratic debate on the future of finance in Europe.

Read my full overview here. 

A Digital-First Approach Is Key to Scalable Pensions and to the PEPP Regulation / IORP II Directive Review

The need to create viable and scalable supplementary pensions is clear and urgent, but it cannot be achieved without a digital-first approach.

EIOPA recently published its advice on the revision of the IORP II Directive and the PEPP Regulation.

Initially, I only reviewed the factsheet and was concerned that it did not mention innovation or digitalisation at all.

However, the advice itself does briefly address these topics.

For your convenience, the main elements are summarised in this blog post. 

Digital Fairness Act: Why It Matters for Financial and Insurance Services

A major new piece of EU consumer legislation is on the horizon. The proposed Digital Fairness Act could reshape how digital services interact with consumers, with wide-reaching implications for financial services and insurance. Its aim is to tackle practices such as dark patterns, misleading influencer marketing, addictive product design, and unfair profiling that exploit consumer vulnerabilities.

The initiative builds on the EU’s Fitness Check of consumer law, which found gaps in online protections and called for stronger enforcement, clearer rules, and action against harmful practices. For insurers and intermediaries, this intersects with key issues such as the role of “Finfluencers,” personalised pricing, and digital sales practices. 

With the public consultation still open, now is the time for the financial sector to pay close attention. This is not just about consumer protection, but about trust, fairness, and the future of digital engagement.

Read more here.

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