Progressive Ramps Up Mobile Capabilities for New Year

The auto insurer added online quoting to its mobile website, roadside assistance to its existing app and released two non-insurance-focused apps.

Mayfield Village, Ohio-based auto insurer Progressive has gone live with an enhanced mobile strategy that includes online quoting, roadside assistance capabilities, quips from its spokesperson "Flo" and an art collection.

“We’ve improved our core car insurance apps to bring even more useful tools to customers,” Matt Lehman, Progressive’s mobile business leader, says in a statement.

Drivers can now get Progressive quotes through https://mobile.progressive.com in 12 states, with more to come through 2011. Customers can also now add roadside assistance to their policies and call for help with the companies existing mobile apps for iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) and Android phones.

The company has also released two new apps that don't relate to its core insurance offerings. The Flo-isms app features 48 soundbites from the company's ubiquitous spokeswoman, and an art collection app features 40 select pieces from Progressive’s contemporary art collection that users can view and share socially. Both apps are available for the iOS; the Flo-isms app is also available for Android.

Other car insurers, including Allstate, Esurance and State Farm, spoke to Insurance & Technology last month about their mobile strategies heading into this year. Carriers are looking closely at development ability, app popularity, and consumer adoption of the several smartphone platforms, including iOS, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7, when deciding where to devote resources for app development.

Nathan Golia is senior editor of Insurance & Technology. He joined the publication in 2010 as associate editor and covers all aspects of the nexus between insurance and information technology, including mobility, distribution, core systems, customer interaction, and risk ... View Full Bio