New | China insurers gear up to battle online challengers
Established insurers are ramping up spending on technology in an effort to keep ahead of online upstarts funded by deep-pocketed internet giants
Mainland Chinese insurers are accelerating plans to develop their digital business as competition heats up against the country’s aggressive internet giants in financial services.
About 30 per cent of traditional insurance companies on the mainland have raised spending and are sharpening their focus on exploring new digital capabilities, product offerings and customer segments, according to a new survey by global professional services firm Accenture.
It predicted digital insurance sales on the Chinese mainland to reach 400 billion yuan (HK$478.8 billion) in 2018, accounting for about 12 per cent of the country’s total 3 trillion yuan insurance market forecast that year.
“China’s internet giants have entered the insurance industry and developed innovative online-based products,” said Dennis Mao, a managing director at Accenture specialising in insurance.
As an example of the e-commerce threat, he cited Zhong An Online Property and Casualty Insurance, the country’s first online insurance company, which started selling policies in December 2013.