Sung Dae-gyu, CEO of Shinhan Life, "Big Tech Companies Should Use Channels Proportionate to the Financial Information Provided"

KIRI and Life & Non-Life Insurance Association Joint Seminar
Emphasizing the Combination of Insurers' Know-How and Big Tech Channels
"Healthcare, a New Market Where Insurtech Can Blossom"

Sung Dae-gyu, President of Shinhan Life Insurance

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] Sung Dae-gyu, CEO of Shinhan Life Insurance, argued that "since big tech companies have opened up financial insurance contract information, insurance companies should be allowed to use big tech (large telecommunications companies) channels more extensively and conveniently."

CEO Sung made these remarks during the keynote speech at the joint seminar "Insurtech and Insurance Industry Outlook in the Untact Era," held online on the 7th by the Korea Insurance Research Institute and the Life & Non-Life Insurance Association.

He pointed out, "In a non-face-to-face environment, the market for non-face-to-face insurance sales using digital devices such as mobile phones will expand further," adding, "Big tech companies, which hold a large amount of customer data, are in a more advantageous position than insurance companies."

He continued, "Big tech companies have also acquired a lot of financial information through internet bank licenses, securities and insurance business licenses, open banking, and MyData business permissions."

He emphasized, "When the know-how of insurance companies, which have designed and sold insurance products for decades, combines with the channel strengths of big tech, it will be possible to provide customers with more valuable products quickly and conveniently."

Furthermore, CEO Sung stated, "We are experiencing tremendous changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic," and predicted, "The sales methods that involved face-to-face customer interactions will rapidly be supplemented by new forms of sales mediated by digital means."

He also claimed, "The untact environment combined with insurtech will create opportunities to resolve information asymmetry among customers and provide insurance products and services through hyper-personalization," adding, "It can be a turning point to overcome stagnation caused by low interest rates and low growth and to grow in a new form."

In particular, CEO Sung identified the healthcare sector, which has gained global attention after COVID-19, as a new market where insurtech can flourish. He said, "The global healthcare market, which was valued at $79 billion in 2015, grew significantly to $206 billion in 2020 and is expected to continue high growth," forecasting, "It can not only create enormous social added value but also reduce insurance accident risk rates and activate customized services for each customer."

He added, "No matter how much the industry calls for untact and digital, change is difficult unless insurance regulations, which are the rules of the game, adapt accordingly," and urged, "We must also start completely changing insurance regulations, the rules of the game, to fit untact and digital environments."

Meanwhile, at the seminar, presenters included Choi Yong-min, Executive Director of Hanwha General Insurance; Yang Kyung-hee, Head of the Research and International Cooperation Team at the Korea Insurance Development Institute; Lim Sung-gi, Head of Insurance Business Promotion at Kakao Pay; Ryu Jun-woo, CEO of Bomap; Kim Se-ho, Executive Director at KPMG; and Kim Kyu-dong, Research Fellow at the Korea Insurance Research Institute.

President Ahn Cheol-kyung of the Korea Insurance Research Institute said, "The insurance industry is deeply engaged in establishing new management strategies using insurtech in the untact era, which will become a new variable determining the survival and development of the insurance industry," and added, "The untact transition can be carried out more efficiently through new technologies and vast data, and coexistence with big tech companies is inevitable."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.