South Korea: Big traditional insurers making impact online
Source: Asia Insurance Review | Jul 2017
South Korea Alternative Distribution
South Korea’s major insurers have emerged as big players in the country’s online life insurance market, with a focus on savings-type policies that life planners shun due to low commissions.
Kyobo Lifeplanet Life Insurance, an Internet arm of Kyobo Life, became the largest online life insurer with first-year premiums of KRW1.28 billion (US$1.1 million) during the first three months of this year, up 45% from a year earlier, according to the Korea Life Insurance Association.
Hanwha Life placed second with KRW789 million, up 139% from a year earlier, followed by Samsung Life with KRW742 million, an increase of 136%, reported the Yonhap News Agency.
KDB Life Insurance, which dominated the country’s online life insurance market for the past few years, ranked fifth during the January-March period. Launched in November in 2012 as the country’s first online life insurer, KDB Life reported a market share of 71.3% in the first quarter of 2015. Its market share fell to 11.2% during 1Q this year, attributed to failure to actively engage in cyber marketing due to belt-tightening amid talks of the company being involved in a possible merger and acquisition. A