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Insurtech Front Page Weekly CXO Briefing – Online Insurance Marketplace

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The Theme last week was about InsurTech accelerators.

The Theme this week, is about online insurance marketplace. This has been a popular sector since InsurTech Day 1. Starting with a marketplace, both incumbents and startups can build an ecosystem out of it.

For more about the Front Page Weekly CXO Briefing, please click here.

Incumbents embracing InsurTech is a common theme in our posts. This time, it’s about customer engagement.

Story 1: ZhongAn, Grab Form JV to create digital insurance marketplace in SEA

Extract, read more on Digital News Asia:

“ZHONGAN Online P&C Insurance Co, Ltd (ZhongAn or ZA Insurance), the first Internet-based insurer in China, announced on Jan 16 that its subsidiary ZhongAn Technologies International Group Limited (ZA International), and Grab Holdings Inc, Southeast Asia’s leading online-to-offline mobile platform, will establish a joint venture company (JV) to enter the digital insurance distribution business in Southeast Asia.

The JV will create a digital insurance marketplace that offers insurance products in a range of categories with fractionalised premiums, directly to users through the Grab mobile app.”

ZhongAn has delivered a great performance in 2018 with a 11.22 billion RMB (1.65 billion USD) premium income and an 88.4% growth. Now Zhong An is trying to build its influence in SEA, and an insurance marketplace built on a popular local platform with huge internet traffic is a perfect choice.

 

Story 2: Policygenius Adds Auto and Home Insurance to Online Marketplace

Extract, read more on Insurance Innovation Reporter:

“Policygenius, a New York-based national direct-to-consumer insurance broker, has announced that it is expanding its online insurance marketplace to offer home insurance and auto insurance with a personalized shopping experience that aims to be unique in the market.

“Our customers have repeatedly told us they love how easy we’ve made comparing and buying life and disability insurance,” comments Jennifer Fitzgerald, CEO and co-founder, Policygenius. “They wanted to know when we’d be expanding to help them with other types of insurance as well. Today, we’re happy to announce that we’ve added home and auto to our marketplace.””

Founded in 2014, Policygenius is a veteran in the online insurance marketplace sector. The offer expansion could bring its customers with a more comprehensive insurance shopping experience.

 

Story 3: Wellthie Launches Health Insurance Marketplace

Extract, read more on Coverager:

“Wellthie, the company that’s “modernizing the insurance shopping experience,” has launched a new health insurance marketplace for small businesses to search and compare health insurance costs and options.”

While most of the online marketplace is designed for individual consumers, Wellthie aims at small business owners. A relatively small market with less competition.

Online insurance marketplace is, in a sense, the alpha version of InsurTech. It could be as simple as e-commercialized insurance store. But behind the curtain, you also need to figure out a way to recommend policies which suit customers’ best interests. That would involve technologies and thinking in customers’ position.

 

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Zarc Gin is an analyst for Warp Speed Fintech, a Fintech, especially InsurTech-focused Venture Capital based in China.

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china, ecosystem, InsurTech, munich re, plugandplay, smart car, zhong an

Insurtech action from China

Actions around China

The Theme last week was Tech giants are serious about insurance

The Theme this week is Insurtech action from China. The Chinese market is a fast growing one for InsurTech. It can be enlightening to see, compare and learn from the Chinese market. We look at 3 news stories illustrating this theme. These stories illustrate actions made by China, from China and for China.

For more about the Front Page Weekly CXO Briefing, please click here.

For this week we bring you three stories illustrating the theme of Insurtech from China.

Story 1: Insurtech is the future infrastructure of insurance, says ZhongAn CEO

Extract, read more on Reinsurance News:

“A joint report by the recently-launched Fintech Research Institute of China’s largest online-only insurer ZhongAn and the financial advisory firm KPMG claims insurtech will enable a more efficient, compatible, balanced and humane insurance ecosystem.”

This is more like a perspective by China (Zhong An), but it is a perspective based on actions in motion. Zhong An has been building its multi-industry ecosystems including auto service, consumption, financing etc. since its founding. Ecosystem is all about partnerships and collaborations, and InsurTech is the core of those partnerships.

Story 2: China’s Attention to Israel Smart Vehicle Market Creates Insurtech Opportunities

Extract, read more on The Times of Israel:

“The Chinese auto industry is yearning for smart-car technologies. In December 2017, the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s chief economic planning agency, revealed a three-year plan highlighting the development of the smart cars industry as a national priority. Without a doubt, by 2020 one in every two new cars sold in China, the world’s leading car market, will be an intelligent one.

Despite popular hype pertaining to autonomous cars, most people don’t understand how highly dependent these cars are on a sense of place. This means that if the map the autonomous car is relying on to navigate is wrong, then the autonomous vehicle is bound to make mistakes as well. French mega insurer AXA for example, is one of the many car insurers tackling this issue.”

The causality chain is a little long here. In short, the promotion on electric cars in China can create new business opportunities for auto insurance and InsurTech can be a big part of it. This is actions from China.

Story 3: Munich Re strikes Insurtech partnership with Plug and Play in China

Extract, read more on The Intelligent Insurer:

“Munich Re has partnered with Plug and Play, a Silicon Valley-based accelerator and corporate innovation platform, to collaborate with emerging Insurtech startups in China.”

Actions for China. Munich Re has been cultivating in Chinese market for a long time. Plug and Play just started its InsurTech program in China this year. They are tapping into Chinese InsurTech from all aspects from accelerating startups, sharing innovation with incumbents etc.

As a market, China has great potential both in individual business and corporate business. As an innovation base, Chinese InsurTech is equipped with mobile Internet features. Either way, it is an attractive destination for global insurance industry.

Zarc Gin is an analyst for Warp Speed Fintech, a Fintech, especially InsurTech-focused Venture Capital based in China.

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