O2 heads for new shores with travel insurance
04 Feb 2010 09:30 
Services – Consumer
· O2 brings new uniquely flexible product to travel insurance market with O2 Flow
· Mobile technology to deliver further benefits
London, 4 February 2010 O2 today announces the next stage in the development of its financial services arm with the launch of travel insurance from O2 Money. Launching this week, O2 Travel Insurance will bring a fresh approach to the market with three products designed to take the stress out of holiday and travel planning. It follows the successful launch of the Cash Manager and Load & Go Visa cards from O2 Money in 2009.
The first product, O2 Flow, is distinctive in the travel insurance market, offering flexibility, personalisation of cover and added value. It has the key ability to combine the flexibility of single trip cover with the added value and multi-trip benefits of annual cover. The key benefits of O2 Flow include:
· The ability to increase or decrease cover as required - for instance, if a customer is going skiing in February, they can pay for ski cover in that month, not for the whole year.
· A rolling, one month contract that can be stopped at any time after the first six months. Frequent travellers don’t have to worry about forgetting to take out cover when they go away.
· The ability to pay monthly, spreading the cost throughout a year as you can do for car or home insurance
· Customers can change various elements of their Flow cover after purchase, for free.
In future, O2 intends to make full use of mobile technology and data to provide enhanced customer benefits. For example, customers could choose to have travel insurance automatically set up whenever they take their phone abroad or be offered the opportunity to switch on cover quickly and easily using SMS.
O2 Travel Insurance is powered by Mondial Assistance, one of the world’s leading providers of travel insurance and assistance. In addition to the O2 Flow product, O2 will offer standard single trip and annual travel insurance cover.
Fraser Campbell, Head of O2 Money said: “Up until this point, travel insurance has traditionally been restrictive for consumers and we know from our research that nobody’s travel plans are ever a one-size-fits-all affair. We are responding to customer insights with the most flexible product on the market which will ensure customers neither over-pay nor find they have inadequate cover while travelling.”
“Since the launch of O2 Money this year, we have already seen thousands of people make huge changes to the way they connect with and manage their money; we are keen to repeat this success with our new travel insurance products. It’s another major move for our portfolio of financial services.”
O2’s Travel Insurance products will offer some of the best levels of cover available with benefits including O2 Passenger Protection (scheduled airline failure cover); new for old replacement (for personal belongings); and up to £15m cover for medical expenses.
Ben Smart, Director of Travel at Mondial Assistance in the UK adds: “O2 Travel Insurance has been created with a single objective, to deliver a versatile solution that reflects the diverse lifestyle and travel aspirations of people today. Whether customers take advantage of O2 Flow or single or annual trip cover, they can holiday with the confidence that they have the right level of protection paid for in a way that best suits them.”
The launch of travel insurance follows the successful launch of Cash Manager and Load & Go from O2 Money. With 100,000 applications in the first seven weeks, they represent the fastest acquisition of new customers for a UK card launch. The two fee free, pre pay Visa cards were designed to help people better manage their spending money by never going overdrawn and with real time balance updates sent to their mobile phone after every purchase.
For more information about O2 Travel Insurance, visit www.o2.co.uk/travelinsurance
For more information contact:
About Mondial Assistance
Mondial Assistance: an intervention every 2 seconds around the world.
International leader in Assistance, Travel Insurance and Personal Services, today the Mondial Assistance Group counts more than 9 817 employees who speak 40 different languages and work throughout the world with a network of 400,000 service providers and 180 correspondents. 250 million people, or 4% of the world’s total population, benefit from its services, which the Group provides on all five continents. Mondial Assistance is a member of the Allianz Group.
For further UK press information please contact:
Margot Tomkinson, Justine Hoadley or Jen Staniforth
HSL
Tel: 020 8977 9132 or email mondialteam@harrisonsadler.com
- Telefónica UK Limited is a leading communications company for consumers and businesses in the UK, with 22.2 million mobile customers and 800,000 fixed broadband customers as at 30 September 2011.
- Telefónica UK Limited is part of Telefónica Europe plc, a business division of Telefónica S.A. which uses O2 as its commercial brand in the UK, Ireland, Slovakia, Germany and the Czech Republic, and has 57.8 million customers across these markets.
- In 2006 Telefónica Europe acquired Be, the UK fixed broadband provider, and in October 2007 O2 launched its broadband service using the Be network.
- O2 is the naming rights partner of The O2, the world-class entertainment venue.
- O2 employs around 11,000 people in the UK and has 450 retail stores.
- In October 2010 O2 was voted the UK’s best mobile network by the readers of both What Mobile and Mobile Choice magazines.
- O2 was ranked highest in customer satisfaction for both UK mobile and fixed broadband customers according to the J.D. Power and Associates UK Mobile and Fixed Broadband Studies 2010.
- O2’s UK 2G mobile network provides voice and data services to 99% of the UK’s population.
- O2’s UK 3G (HSPA+ 900 / 2100 MHz) network currently provides voice and high speed data services of up to 14.4Mbps (21Mbps in the coming months) to over 84% of the UK population.
- O2 was the first UK operator to deploy a 4G/LTE trial network which has demonstrated peak speeds of over 100Mbps to a mobile device.
- Telefónica Europe also owns 50% of Tesco Mobile, which operates in the UK and Ireland, and 50% of Tchibo Mobilfunk in Germany.
About Telefónica
Telefónica is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world in terms of market capitalization. Its activities are centered mainly on the fixed and mobile telephony businesses with broadband as the key tool for the development of both.
The company has a significant presence in 25 countries and a customer base that amounts more than 287.6 million accesses around the world. Telefónica has a strong presence in Spain, Europe and Latin America, where the company focuses an important part of its growth strategy.
Telefónica is a 100% listed company, with more than 1.5 million direct shareholders. Its share capital currently comprises 4,563,996,485 ordinary shares traded on the Spanish Stock Market (Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia) and on those in London, Tokyo, New York, Lima, Buenos Aires and São Paulo.