If taking out insurance and claiming on it required no written forms, would more people sign up? Some companies think so. Ping An was early to the game and has already started seeing some returns from investing in technology. Earnings for last year beat market expectations. This may just be the beginning for China’s largest insurance company.
Just 8 per cent of Chinese people have life insurance. In a country with a population of 1.4bn, these are exciting times. For Ping An, which earns more than half of its profits from this business, last year was good. Net profit was up 21 per cent at Rmb107bn ($16bn).
Ping An aims to use technology, including apps and blockchain, to make insurance accessible to the masses. Its acquisition of Lufax, a peer-to-peer lending platform, and its launch of Zhong An, China’s first digital insurer, with Tencent and Alibaba six years ago have been paying off. Its Hong Kong-listed unit Ping An Healthcare & Technology, offering free virtual doctor visits and hospital appointment-booking services, has started shrinking its losses.