Since its inception in 2016 Blink, one of the fastest-growing global Travel InsurTechs, has quickly established itself as one of the most innovative and successful providers of flight disruption solutions to insurers across the globe and has formed a number of distribution partnerships in large markets across North America, Asia and Europe.

Manulife offers travel insurance through many distribution channels across Canada and is a leading international Financial Services group. It operates primarily as John Hancock in the United States and Manulife elsewhere.

This news follows a recent announcement that Blink has joined up with UK travel insurance startup, Pluto, further showcasing the pace of growth for CPP Group’s InsurTech company.

Jason Walsh, Chief Executive Officer at CPP Group, said: “The partnership between Blink and Manulife is another demonstration of our broader strategy that focuses on international expansion and technological innovation, adding real value to the Group.

“Blink is transforming the travel insurance market with its parametric platform, forging new partnerships with global brands while adding significant technological capabilities to our group operations, which helps us to build deeper relationships with existing clients.”

Announcing the Manulife partnership, Paul Prendergast, CEO of Blink said:

“We have been working with Manulife to develop a very exciting suite of products that, once launched, will transform the customer travel insurance experience. The Manulife ethos is very much in keeping with our own focus in finding and developing innovative digital solutions with the primary goal of making customers’ travel insurance experience as efficient as possible.”

Blink operates and monitors global flight disruptions in real-time. The common inconvenience of completing insurance claim forms or submitting receipts is no longer required because the customer does not need to submit proof that the disruption took place.

This paperless service helps ease the stress of a flight delay or cancellation in real-time and will be a convenient offer for leisure and business travelers alike. Benefits include complimentary airport lounge access, hotel booking options and instant payment when the insured’s flight is delayed more than three hours, all done seamlessly through a smartphone. The new product suite will initially be piloted to optimise the delivery solution before being rolled out across additional distribution channels.

Rob Iafrate, AVP Manulife Travel Insurance commented that, “The technology that Blink has developed is truly innovative and unlike anything we have seen on the market to-date. Manulife is transforming into the most digital, customer-centric company in our industry, and this partnership with Blink aligns perfectly. We are redefining insurance and how providers interact with customers to ensure efficiency and best-in-class service. We are looking forward to creating this new, convenient experience for our customers to further support them during those stressful times of flight disruption.”