HYLA Mobile
Leveraging Analytics to Mitigate Fraud

We reside in an era with billions of mobile devices in use and millions more that are forgotten in people’s drawers. In 2009, HYLA Mobile (then eRecycle Corp.) realized that there was value in pre-owned mobile devices while also keeping millions of devices out of landfills. This idea turned out to be viable and created a significant opportunity globally. HYLA provided fully outsourced services, encompassing processing, repairing, and liquidating mobile devices collected via trade-in, upgrade, warranty, and other insurance programs.

All carriers launched trade-in programs and a new multi-billion-dollar niche was born. Trade-in programs through wireless carriers, retailers, and OEMs aim to create value within the wireless ecosystem and reduce the number of mobile devices that idly sit unused—eventually destined to be thrown away polluting the environment.

Today, HYLA offers the insurance industry software tools and data-driven analytics, powered by the millions of trade-ins processed each year, to drive pricing policies and for decision support when insuring mobile devices. By leveraging HYLA’s solutions, companies can manage wholesale transactions, make informed decisions about pricing and risk management. “Our analytics and device diagnostics tools are tailored for the insurance industry to increase the total available market of policyholders and at the same time to mitigate the risk of adverse selection at enrollment,” says Joe Settimi, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Emerging Business Group, HYLA.

The risk of fraud is the main concern for not insuring devices outside of the 30-day new purchase window, which is a limit with most device protection offerings. However, research has shown that consumers are willing to reconsider purchasing device protection within the first year of owning their device even if they initially declined at the time of device purchase. In addition, with the rising cost of new devices, more consumers than ever are purchasing pre-owned high-end devices, which historically prevented them from adding device protection.

We leverage data globally to constantly improve our mobile device analytics and create additional value for the insurance market

HYLA’s on-device diagnostic tool is easily completed by a consumer to accurately assess a phone’s condition in real-time—including a cracked screen—to provide an insurance company with certainty that the device is in good working order at the time of it being insured.

HYLA Analytics provides further insights as to which device models have a higher incident repair rate. Factoring in expected future repair costs, this can be leveraged to develop more accurate insurance pricing based on specific device risk and cost to remediate. Additionally, HYLA Intelligent Receipt & Routing (IRR) allows for making real-time decisions for device disposition, comparing the device value in its current state with future downward price curve against immediate repair and sale, and assessing the expected value in the end. This allows for making smarter decisions based on expected cost/value and not just automatically repairing a device when it’s broken.

One of HYLA’s clients–a large mobile device insurance company– struggled with fraud during initial customer enrollment. The company implemented HYLA’s solutions ranging from device diagnostics to pricing analytics, ensuring they only insure customers genuinely looking for device protection (not a quick fix). HYLA also provided insight into the device market value to understand the downward price curve, repair, and replacement risks, and more. The solutions from HYLA empowered the insurance company with a range of capabilities, enhancing their efficiency and negating customer-related fraud risks.

HYLA continues to invest in turnkey technology trends such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other technologies to enrich its solutions. The analytics tool has already been automated, making it extremely agile, fast, and flexible in the process. HYLA is now licensing its mobile diagnostic solutions alongside its IRR solution. All solutions, in combination, bring a wealth of innovation and insight to the insurance industry, translating into better customer experiences, value, and efficiency. “We leverage data globally to constantly improve our mobile device analytics and create additional value for the insurance market,” concludes Settimi.