By Lee Min-hyung | The Korea Times | June 30, 2021
Shinhan Life, which will be launched on Thursday following the merger of Shinhan Life Insurance and Orange Life Insurance, will intensify competition with rivals Kyobo Life Insurance and Mirae Asset Life Insurance as the new insurer seeks to gain an upper hand through the use of next-generation information technology.
The insurance industry is paying close attention to Shinhan’s strategy of expanding into the customized healthcare industry as an integrated life insurer.
Shinhan Life CEO Sung Dae-kyu identified healthcare recently as the firm’s next growth engine, saying that the integrated insurer will keep increasing investments to achieve sustainable growth.
The three life insurers have sought to obtain licenses to operate a MyData business here. This refers to a project led by the Financial Services Commission targeting financial firms here, allowing licensed MyData business operators to offer customized services by collecting a customer’s personal financial data from financial institutions and displaying it all on one platform.
A number of banks and credit card companies have already stepped up competition to take the lead in the market. But competition for the MyData business is not that fierce in the insurance industry at present, because insurers remain less agile in responding to market changes due to conservative views within the industry.
Shinhan Life said Wednesday it has signed a partnership with KT, one of the nation’s major telecom companies, to find fresh business models for HowFit, a digital healthcare service operated by Shinhan Life.
Sung also shared the firm’s long-term vision of possibly spinning off the business after raising its profile in the local healthcare industry. HowFit is a home-training service using artificial intelligence (AI), which allows users to exercise without any wearable devices and only by using their smartphones.
“We are going to expand HowFit’s presence here by partnering with KT, the nation’s largest IPTV service operator, and the partnership will enable 9 million IPTV users of KT to access our healthcare service,” a Shinhan Life official said.
Kyobo Life Insurance and Mirae Asset Life Insurance are also seeking to take the lead in their own MyData business. Both companies consider healthcare as their next key growth area at a time when the conventional insurance market is quickly reaching a saturation point.
Kyobo Life Insurance Chairman Shin Chang-jae has also been eyeing the firm’s aggressive expansion into the healthcare market since last year after launching its healthcare platform, Kare, which helps users predict their health condition.
Last year, Kyobo Life Insurance developed its own AI software to streamline a series of conventional, time-consuming processes when customers subscribe to the firm’s insurance products. The AI-powered service can conduct document screening before making insurance payments to customers, according to Kyobo.
The life insurance affiliate of Mirae Asset recently submitted an application for its MyData business to the financial watchdog. The company has yet to select specific business models and plans to share details after receiving an approval from the FSC. But Mirae Asset will also focus on the healthcare-related business to reduce its reliance on traditional revenue sources.