Plastic cards to Digital wallets - how 'snowcard's' have changed since 1990

As Snowcard launches the eWallet version of their digital snowcard, Freddie D interviews Snowcard director, Russell Dadson, about his memories of the original plastic snowcard's and the journey to digital cards.

Tell us about the first Snowcard

I started skiing back in the 1980’s when I was a teenager. I can remember the first ski trip I made on my own when I was 18, to a resort called Risoul in the southern Alps. I had to organise my first insurance policy and remember it being a single sheet of carbon copy paper. In those days email confirmations or computer pdf documents didn’t exist and the flimsy sheet of paper I was given was all I had to rely on for proof of insurance.

My early career was in the Lloyd’s of London insurance market and by my late 20’s I had made many ski trips and became aware of the French Carte Neige piste rescue insurance. I thought, ‘why haven’t we got a UK based English language version of this, wouldn’t it be great to develop a specialist UK insurance with more than a piece of paper to stuff in your pocket’.

After a couple of years of research and finding a suitable UK based insurer, I launched our UK version of a card based ski insurance in 1990.

Why do you think it important that proof of insurance is carried?

As my love of skiing developed alongside my insurance career, I became more aware of the processes involved when injuries happened and what was expected of the injured skier. 

Back in the 1990’s you often heard of stories where surly pisteurs refused assistance without proof of insurance. By the late 1990’s this practice was by and large dismissed as skiing became more mainstream and ski resorts had to be seen as tourist friendly places to visit. However, there were many reported situations where UK skiers faced problems proving they were insured, and the practice of holding your ski equipment to ransom until the piste rescuer’s fees had been paid were well documented.

The problem with buying a European based ski insurance was language. On the whole an insurance contract in French or German was incomprehensible to UK skiers so it was really important that a specialist ski insurance option be made available to the growing UK winter sports market.

Until I started Snowcard in 1990, most travel insurance issued to skiers was based on a standard travel policy, insurers didn’t really understand the risks and simply charged double the standard rate they charged for beach holidays. The Ski Club of Great Britain had its own policy in those days but other than that, there were no specialist branded ski policies.

What is the importance of a brand like Snowcard?

Even today there are many unbranded travel policies that will cover skiing but are simply standard travel policies sold with a higher premium. The importance of a brand like Snowcard is that it creates an identity that its users can relate to. Particularly within the sports market, visual identity and connection with the brand through the language used is key to engaging customers with the product or service they are buying.

From my own involvement with winter sports, as well as other sports I have enjoyed throughout my life, I have developed a deep understanding of our client’s needs. Winter sports isn’t just ski based activity and by focusing on the various facets that make up winter sports, Snowcard has developed a range of options that address the many sides of both winter and summer based sports that are excluded by standard travel policies.

These days there is a lot more choice, with several new brands competing alongside Snowcard. Consumer choice is vital for a healthy market but having a brand you identify with ensures what is often seen as a very dry subject (insurance!) becoming something you can take more seriously and engage with positively.

What makes Snowcard stand out?

I like to think Snowcard has stood the test of time because its basic precept, that it is important to carry proof of insurance and know how to use it, is as relevant today as it was back in 1990. Whilst the world has moved on and digital communications have meant physical proof of insurance is less relevant, Snowcard for me is an important piece of your kit check list. By having such a strong identity, it brings to life the need for insurance, whether carried physically or digitally, when taking part in high risk sports.

How has Snowcard changed in the past 30 years?

When I started Snowcard, we produced manually typed insurance certificates and sent the first version of our plastic Snowcards via post. The cards were externally produced and took up to 4 weeks to arrive from the printers.

How things have changed! That cumbersome process became a constant frustration, so by the mid-1990’s we had invested in inhouse plastic card printing equipment and we were able to print and send out cards on the day an order was received.

This system worked well for many years but by the mid 2000’s, the internet was evolving and becoming an established way for companies to communicate rather than through printed brochures. I can remember building our first website. It was basic, clunky and not really capable of much other than providing policy information. However, Snowcard was one of the first specialist ski insurers to develop an ecommerce service. When we first started selling insurance via the internet, it made up less than 5% of sales. Over a 20 year period this has gradually reversed and now 100% of sales are made electronically online.

During the early internet years whilst electronic documents were starting to become more common, we were still printing cards and sending them via post. By about 2010, the efficiency of an internet based sales system solved the problem of increasing printing and postage costs and gradually made the need to send physical cards and documents redundant.

For the past 10 years, all Snowcard documentation has been digital. 

What is the future for Snowcard?

This year we have built a digital wallet version of our snowcard which has transformed how we are approaching the brand and how it will stay relevant into the future. Mobile devices are now indispensable to how we live our daily lives, making interacting via a mobile easier is a big ambition for us.

We are currently working on a new app with the sole aim of revolutionising how we manage problems on holidays and making the whole claims process more transparent and user friendly. I want to continue to personally help our clients, and whilst the internet has removed the old fashioned personal touch we used to enjoy speaking with our clients on the phone, my vision is to make Snowcard more accessible and easier to use for future generations. Whilst online businesses are sometimes guilty of being impersonal and faceless, I want our clients to know there are still real people in the background who care about the adventures they make and the importance of their insurance for their security and peace of mind.