MetLife takes up insurtech and will use big data to cover diabetes patients
Hong Kong Insurance Authority backs use of technology that will let insurers calculate risks viewed as beyond the scope of conventional analytical tools
MetLife has become the latest insurance company in Hong Kong to take up insurance technology – or insurtech – development and extend its medical cover.
The Hong Kong Insurance Authority last month announced a number of measures to encourage the development of insurtech, which refers to insurance companies using technology to cut down on operating costs and to provide better products.
MetLife joins AIA, Manulife, Allianz and Zurich Insurance, who have also unveiled insurtech plans, and uses big data to cover people who previously could not get cover, such as those with diabetes. This is because insurtech allows for the calculation of risks viewed as too hard for conventional analytical tools to compute.
“We recognise that it is difficult living with a disease like diabetes, which is why we are using technology to make it easier for our customers to record their health data and, by extension, manage their disease more easily and effectively. This makes medical protection more accessible to this group of people, something that could not be done without insurtech,” said Lee Wood, chief executive of MetLife Hong Kong.
“With advanced technologies, we are not just giving them one more channel to buy insurance, but providing a new experience that we could not offer before. Insurtech allows insurers to extend coverage to those who were previously uninsurable,” he said.