Entering the Wellnes Sector, Prudential Introduces AI-Based App Called "Pulse"

Prudential life insurance company introduces Pulse by Prudential (Pulse) wellness application to help users manage their health thoroughly. Pulse is equipped with a myriad of wellness features supported by AI technology so that users can manage their health proactively.

Prudential Indonesia's President Director Jens Reisch explained, since Pulse was introduced in Indonesia in February 2020, it has been recorded as being used by more than 4.3 million Indonesians. This incision indicates that public awareness of health is increasing, especially in the midst of a pandemic.

This figure even exceeds the number of Prudential Indonesia's customers. As of last year, Prudential Indonesia's customer numbers reached two million customers since operating in 1995.

"In the midst of the current pandemic situation, Indonesian people are getting aware of their health as an important issue. It has not been a year and Pulse has been accessed by 4.3 million users,” he said in a virtual press conference, yesterday (12/11).

Quoting from the Ministry of Health's Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) data, it shows that the lifestyle of Indonesians encourages an increase in the prevalence of non-communicable diseases (PTM), such as cancer, stroke, chronic kidney disease, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension.

The reason is that more than 90% of Indonesians eat unhealthy foods, including eating fewer vegetables and fruit, and more than 33% of Indonesians do less physical activity. From this data, it becomes a domino effect because it is influenced by the current pandemic.

"Pulse is tasked with preventing, delaying illness, and protecting it by continuing to accompany each user's life journey," Prudential Indonesia's Chief Operations and Health Officer Dian Budiani added.

Pulse was first released in Malaysia in August 2019. It is now available in 11 countries in Asia, such as Cambodia, Hong Kong, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is claimed, this application has been downloaded more than 12 million times as of 11 November 2020.

Tons of new features

In this launching, Prudential added a myriad of new features and monetization through subscription packages because Pulse is not exclusive to Prudential customers only. For subscription packages, users can access exclusive community features, runners, and cyclists in Komunitas Saya; Perencanaan Makan to manage food menus that are adjusted to the user's health goals.

Furthermore, the AI-assisted Food Journal feature, where users can find out the calories consumed by simply taking a photo of the food and recording it in a journal; My Healthy Eating Goal to challenge users to start new habits in eating food; My Eye Dispensary & My Pulmonary Clinic to find out eye health and oxygen saturation levels in the blood simply by recording selfie videos and analyzed by AI.

Finally, a life insurance protection voucher which value is equivalent to one month's premium. This subscription package is priced at IDR 39,900 per month.

There is also free features. Among those are BMI measuring instruments and Facial Wrinkle Mirrors, with only selfies and AI assistance, users can find out the condition of body mass and the level of wrinkles on the face. Then, a Sports Activity Monitor to monitor health indicators connected to Garmin, Fitbit, Google Health, and Apple Health wearables.

All these new features help users to understand their body condition better because they can get an overview of their condition, as well as a better understanding of the symptoms of the disease of concern.

The application can also direct the user to get the appropriate treatment, thanks to the support of AI-supported by Babylon, a healthtech AI startup from UK.

In covering other Pulse functions as protection, it has been equipped with the PRUShoppe feature to purchase life insurance products from Prudential directly through the application. Furthermore, they can consult a doctor and buy medicine, thanks to the support of Halodoc which has been connected to Pulse.

In addition to health, Pulse provides information features and reminders of prayer times and Qibla direction.

"We collaborate with many parties in creating all these features. Of course, we will continue to introduce new features in the future," Prudential Indonesia's Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Luskito Hambali said.