An innovator delivering an industry leading insurtech product suite for the experience economy: Protecht, Inc.

In the digital world we live in, InsurTech is a buzzword that has gained immense popularity. Over the last few years, InsurTech has managed to become an important industry sector in its own right. Many entities in the insurance segment have already transitioned themselves digitally to offer a better choice, convenience, comparison, and security to their customers. Technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), smart contracts, the Internet of Things, drones, telematics, and the blockchain are providing the insurers with new ways to control, measure, and price risk, engage with customers, improve efficiency, reduce cost, and increase customer efficiency.

Globally, there are various companies delivering outstanding solutions to the insurance segment, but Protecht, Inc. stands out from the rest. Protecht, Inc is committed to building a better experience in today’s online economy. With today’s commerce expanding globally, protecht understands what the online industry needs to generate a more secure financial experience that is independent and impartial for those who participate. With over 100 years of combined work in fraud, risk, insurance, finance, and payments, the company’s industry-leading technologies are powering its clients, who produce over 400 million transactions per year, with financial and inventory control, security protocols, data analytics, customer engagement, and in turn, increased conversions

In conversation with Bryan Derbyshire, CEO of Protecht, Inc.

Q. What inspired you to establish the company?

The members of the Protecht team are fans themselves. We have a passion for people and are focused on helping fans, promoters and venues so that the shows will go on. Insurance must be easy to understand, buy and use. Consumers can then have confidence in spending their hard-earned money on paid admission experiences.

Q. How do you bridge the gap between the consumer experience and the world of “nonrefundable” events?

For over a year, consumers were suffering from an emotional void due to a non-existent live event schedule showcasing music, sports, and the arts, thanks to the unwelcomed ushering in of COVID-19. Also lost for many was the disposable income that historically would have been dedicated to paying for such events. With venue doors re-opened and the lights back on, consumers can hardly be blamed for being more protective of their hard-earned money. Vacant seats equate to lost revenue for promoters, performers, and venues. Most in the live event space don’t have time or the expertise in technology to help lend purchase peace of mind for the fan. It’s an unfortunate scenario for all. Phoenix-based Protecht offers turnkey solutions for promoters and venues, which in turn provides confidence to their customers at checkout. Since 2016, Protecht’s FanShield product has afforded event-goers the peace of mind that, should unexpected, covered circumstances occur, the cost of their missed experience would be reimbursed.

Q. What makes your products unique?

There are two major differentiators surrounding Protecht’s proprietary embedded, in-platform technology. Protecht’s offerings are turnkey for promoters to deliver to consumers. Once the FanShield product is embedded on the registration website, it’s on auto-pilot. For fans, the ease of use is unrivaled, with its one-click purchase, at a fraction of their event ticket cost, right at check out. Protecht will continue to tap new generations of technology to offer solutions for enhancing real-life moments, which don’t currently exist. Protecht realizes technology must be continuously sharpened for the betterment of the overall consumer experience. Protecht focuses on protecting passions and experiences that matter to the fans and part of that process is educating consumers on how insurance can benefit them.

Q. How does TourShield protect Travel & Tour enthusiasts?

TourShield, as it exists today, covers the actual booking of an experience package. For example, imagine you’ve finally purchased a dream ticket to swim alongside the dolphins in Mexico. Unfortunately, due to covered reasons, including illness, injury, work conflict, and military duty, you can no longer make that trip. With TourShield coverage, you would receive a reimbursement for your package cost. Protecht is expanding our product suite in 2022 to complement TourShield with a travel protection offering. It would help give destination event enthusiasts peace of mind by covering their travel expenses, should they be unable to make the trip due to covered reasons. So, in the case of your dolphin excursion, out-of-pocket expenses related to transportation and accommodations would be covered.

Q. Could you tell us about the technology that underlines your products?

Protecht continues to strengthen its robust suite of product solutions with its embedded, award-winning transactional framework and proven distribution model within the direct-to-consumer e-commerce marketplace, which is part of a complete live events ecosystem. Built for immense scale, 12,000 event ticket protection quotes can be generated per second.

Q. What are the current challenges of being in the insurtech space? How are you tackling these challenges?

We don’t view ourselves as a typical insurance company, yet we still believe the onus is on Protecht to translate and make it easy to understand and consume for our customers and clients. It needs to be approachable, and our customers and clients need to know we are here to genuinely protect them. This challenge requires us to invest more time in educating others on what we do and how we can help, but that extra effort is worth it. We have often found ourselves solving for a new pain point, which is atypical for most insurance companies. Being centered on the customer’s journey is core to who we are, as defined by them. We are just decent human beings who want to make people’s experiences better.

Q. How do you stay on the pulse of the growing landscape of insurtech?

Quite simply, Protecht’s goal is to protect people’s passions and solve for their needs. We never set out to innovate in the insurtech industry. We’ve always focused on consumer needs from day one and worked outward to make those experiences better. We drive ourselves to solve problems and provide solutions based on consumer habits and trends. We are confident that if we continue to strive to be the industry leader in that endeavor, we will continue to be an industry leader for insurtech.

Meet the leader behind the success of Protecht, Inc.

Protecht’s CEO Bryan Derbyshire is passionate about people and their passions. He believes if they have a meaningful event experience, the positive energy gained from that event will carry over into their lives outside the event venue. The adrenaline rush from their live event experiences makes them better members of their communities. Derbyshire is tenacious in his drive to continue to build products, which make their lives better so, in turn, others around those fans benefit from their experiences as well. Paying it forward. Protecting what matters and improving the community, one show and one fan at a time.

“We’ve always focused on consumer needs from day one and worked outward to make those experiences better”