'Samsung Life's Big Data Business with 8.2 Million Customers... Insurance Companies' Surprising Side Hustle Boom'

26 Ancillary Tasks This Year... Four Times Last Year
Health Management & M&A Advisory as 'New Growth Engines'
Proof of Overcoming Aging and Low-Interest Rate Crises

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] Samsung Life Insurance, which has 8.2 million customers, has entered the big data consulting and sales business. It is the second company in the industry to do so after KB Insurance. Through big data that combines customers' credit information and external data in a de-identified form, they can provide commercial area analysis or marketing consulting services or sell related data. Earlier, AIG Insurance reported consulting services related to mergers and acquisitions (M&A) starting from the 5th.

This year, insurance companies are increasingly entering ancillary businesses. The number of ancillary business applications submitted by the third quarter has exceeded four times that of last year.

As the core insurance market has reached saturation, this is interpreted as a 'strategic detour' to find a blue ocean. Some interpret this as evidence that the insurance industry is sensing limits in profit generation due to aging and low interest rates.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service and related industries on the 6th, the number of ancillary business applications submitted by insurance companies reached 26 as of the end of September. This is a significant increase compared to only 6 cases last year.

Excluding 2011, when the Insurance Business Act was amended to allow insurance companies to engage in ancillary businesses as long as they do not negatively affect management soundness, policyholder protection, or financial market stability (26 cases), this is the largest scale. Insurance companies can start ancillary businesses by reporting the details to the Financial Supervisory Service at least 7 days before commencing the work.

"Although insurance companies entered ancillary fields in the past, strategic entries have increased recently"

Especially this year, unlike in the past, active entry into new fields such as big data and healthcare is taking place.

AIA Life, after registering the 'health management service industry' approved by the Financial Services Commission, is operating 'AIA Vitality' with SK Telecom, analyzing big data such as user physical characteristics, lifestyle habits, and health information. Through entry into the health management service industry, they plan to launch services that provide subscription fees and offer rewards related to lifestyle services such as aviation, accommodation, shopping, entertainment, as well as insurance premium discounts.

Samsung Life Insurance, which reported 'consulting and dataset sales using big data' as an ancillary business, signed a business agreement last month with fintech company BankSalad for financial data exchange. Both companies agreed to share information on subscribed products and insurance premiums with customer consent. It is expected to strengthen guarantee analysis consulting and integrated asset management services.

The insurance company that reported the most ancillary businesses this year is Orange Life. They applied for three cases: loan brokerage services for individual customers, advertising agency services related to card products, and advertising agency services for financial products and services. Ahead of the integration with Shinhan Life Insurance in July next year, they have laid the groundwork to create synergy with Shinhan Financial Group affiliates such as banks and cards.

Ancillary businesses based on core operations are also notable. Hanwha Life and Hanwha General Insurance provide trademark rights for the financial brand 'Life Plus,' and Korean Re, which is seeking to expand overseas business, has started overseas subsidiary management consulting and audit services. Carrot General Insurance, which applied AI video recognition technology to mobile phone insurance, has applied for non-face-to-face device damage verification technology services.

An insurance industry official explained, "In the past, ancillary businesses were truly secondary fields with low profitability, such as advertising agency or loan brokerage, but recently, strategic entries have increased."