Shinhan Life to Expand Healthcare Subsidiary 'Shinhan CubeOn'

The First Case in the Life Insurance Industry

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] Shinhan Life is intensifying its final preparations to establish a digital healthcare subsidiary ahead of the year-end.

According to the insurance industry on the 1st, Shinhan Life recently decided to name its digital healthcare subsidiary 'Shinhan CubeOn.' It is expected to receive official approval from financial authorities for the subsidiary's establishment as early as this month, making it likely that the first healthcare subsidiary in the life insurance industry will be born within the year.

There are also expectations that Choi Seung-hwan, currently leading Shinhan Life's healthcare business and a former consultant at Frost & Sullivan, will be appointed as the head of the new subsidiary's Digital Innovation Group.

Shinhan Life has been laying the groundwork for digital healthcare services even before the launch of the integrated corporation. It created a healthcare business team within the Digital Innovation Group directly under CEO Sung Dae-kyu and has been introducing various healthcare businesses.

The representative service is 'HowFit,' a paid home training platform. Launched in March, HowFit uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze users' movements and provide exercise coaching services. Shinhan Life is jointly developing a service with KT that can be used on Olleh TV following mobile platforms.

Additionally, Shinhan Life operates a healthcare room at the Gangnam Center in collaboration with CJ CheilJedang. Based on customers' health information, it recommends suitable nutritional supplements and provides discount information on related products. This reflects the intention to utilize accumulated health data for personalized one-on-one healthcare services beyond the insurance sector into non-financial areas.

Confident in the success of the healthcare business through these services, CEO Sung Dae-kyu declared the establishment of a healthcare subsidiary in June and decided at the board meeting in September to invest 20 billion KRW in capital for the digital healthcare subsidiary. CEO Sung expressed his ambition, stating, "We will strive to become a top-tier Shinhan Life that firmly secures a leading position in the digital and healthcare fields within one to two years."

Shinhan CubeOn is expected to initially focus on acquiring customers based on the HowFit service and gradually expand its business areas. The plan is to develop it into a platform providing comprehensive health management services, offering various healthcare services to achieve the dual goals of maintaining and improving customers' health and preventing diseases.

Following KB Insurance, Shinhan Life's establishment of a healthcare subsidiary marks the digital healthcare sector as a new battleground for insurance companies. The financial authorities have also pledged active support for insurance companies' entry into healthcare, allowing participation in open banking and supporting the provision of healthcare and nursing services.