[2020 National Audit] "We don't accept insurance premiums by card"... Card payment accounts for only 3.9%

Lee Jung-moon Lawmaker "Only Innocent Consumers Inconvenienced by Fee Battles in Insurance and Card Industries"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] It has been revealed that the proportion of insurance premium payments made by credit card in the insurance industry remains low. Since insurance companies are reluctant to accept credit card payments for insurance premiums due to the burden of card fees, there are calls for financial authorities to intervene and adjust insurance card fees.

According to the National Assembly inspection data on the 'Status of Insurance Premium Credit Card Payments in the Last 5 Years,' submitted by the Financial Supervisory Service to Lee Jung-moon, a member of the Democratic Party on the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee, the proportion of credit card payments for insurance premiums in the insurance industry over the past five years was only 3.9% for life insurance companies and 22.7% for non-life insurance companies.

In the case of life insurance, only 18 out of 24 insurance companies operated a credit card payment system. LINA Life Insurance had the highest credit card payment ratio at 35.1%, followed by AIA Life (14.6%), Shinhan Life (12.0%), and KB Life (10.1%). Major life insurers such as Samsung Life recorded only 0.1%, while Hanwha Life and Kyobo Life outright refused credit card payments.

For non-life insurance, most of the 17 companies in the industry operated a credit card payment system. AXA General Insurance had the highest ratio at 81.8%, followed by Hana General Insurance (63.3%) and ACE General Insurance (53.0%). Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance (28.4%), Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance (26.1%), and DB Insurance (26.9%) also recorded mid-20% ratios.

Although the widespread use of credit cards has increased demand for card payments for insurance products, insurance companies reduce credit card payments for premiums citing the burden of card fees, allow card payments only for certain insurance products such as protection insurance, or even refuse card payments altogether, causing inconvenience to consumers.

Regarding this, Assemblyman Lee Jung-moon pointed out, "The insurance industry's long-standing practice of restricting or refusing card payments has been repeatedly criticized as limiting consumer convenience and is a social problem." He added, "The insurance industry refuses credit card payments for premiums citing card fees and the special nature of savings-type insurance, while even restricting or refusing card payments for protection insurance."

He continued, "Due to the 'collective selfishness' of the insurance industry, which earns over 3 trillion won in net profit annually, and the card industry, which quietly collects trillions of won in insurance card fees every year, the damage is unfairly passed on to innocent consumers," emphasizing, "Financial authorities must actively intervene to resolve conflicts, including adjusting insurance card fees."

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