Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is pushing into insurance territory and is currently trying to partner up with insurance firms in France.
Google’s managing director in France revealed that the company is planning to strike partnerships between insurance companies and some of its divisions such as Nest. Nick Leeder, the CEO of Google France pointed out that the company is not planning to take a direct approach which is why the company is targeting partnerships with insurance firms.
Leeder was speaking to a panel at the annual reinsurance industry’s meeting that took place on Tuesday in Monte Carlo when he said, “With some of the things we have done around Nest, we have been working with insurers in France like AXA and Allianz to develop bundles of products which blend technology and hardware with insurance.”
There have been hints that Google is planning to venture into insurance but it was previously not clear how the company would go about it. Most insurance companies have considered Google as a potential threat. This is because Google is globally known as a strong brand with exceptional customer care management. But Google has its eyes on a different strategy.
“We are not a company that uses the word ‘never’ much, so it’s difficult to rule things in or out. I think there are things that we are good at and things we are not good at,” stated the Google head for the French division.
Google claims that it has a clear outline of how it plans to approach the insurance industry and it is currently looking for partners. However, the firm is yet to reveal more details about its pursuit though it has expressed interest in various fields such as healthcare. Earlier this year, the company brought down its motor insurance price comparison website. The executive stated that the website did not work as well as the company anticipated. So far the company has not made any deals with any firms though it has expressed its interest in such partnerships.
Alphabet stock closed the most recent trading session at $788.72, marking a decline from the previous session by $10.10 equivalent to a 1.26% decline. The stock had a trading volume of 1.81 million shares.