South Korea: Insurers jump on authentication service wagon
Source: Asia Insurance Review | Jul 2018
South Korea Technology
At least 15 insurers, including Kyobo Life Insurance and KB Insurance, are providing an authentication service by partnering with Kakao Pay, which is a popular payment service. They are introducing the service before the abolishment of the public online certification system.
Kyobo Life introduced Kakao Pay certification for mobile financial services after signing a business agreement with Kakao Pay last month. The life insurer is providing an insurance contract loan service based on authentication through a message delivered via Kakao Talk without a separate application or authorised certificate, reports Business Korea.
KB also introduced in April a mobile registered mail service which utilises Kakao Pay authentication.
Insurance companies consider Kakao Pay’s blockchain-based security a major strength of the service. “The service was developed based on blockchains from the early stage of service development, so its merits have been known throughout the insurance industry, I think,” a Kakao Pay representative said.
Kakao Pay was designated as an official electronic document intermediary by the government for the first time among mobile platforms.
An insurance industry official said, “Many insurers have partnered with Kakao Pay because Kakao Pay was recognised by the government.”
Kakao Pay authentication also enhances accessibility to insurance for the younger generation. “The introduction of Kakao Pay authentication does not earn insurers a big profit in the short term, but the younger generation will be interested in insurance policies as they are familiar with Kakao Pay.” A