Life Insurance E-Business in Asia
Abstract
Some pioneering life insurance companies in Asia have used the Internet as a distribution channel for almost 10 years, but the portion of premium income from this channel remains very small.
In the report Life Insurance E-Business in Asia: Trends and Best Practices, Celent looks at life insurance e-business growth in Asia and identifies best practices in the life insurance online sales area, including leveraging video in online insurance, improving content quality and readability, leveraging multiple communication methods, improving the user experience, and creating well-organized websites. Celent also examines the reasons and analyzes the drivers for the development of life insurance e-business in Asia, projecting the growth of the market over the next five years.
The functionality of insurers’ websites extends beyond direct sales. They can be used as a marketing tool and for lead generation. Insurers’ websites are a platform for customer service and agent service, and are capable of helping to improve sales quality and straight-through processing of the traditional channels.

This report focuses on insurance new business purchase through the electronic channel.
“The online purchase process usually starts from premium calculation, which is fine for auto insurance or travel insurance, but not good enough for life insurance,” says Wenli Yuan, Senior Analyst with Celent’s Asian Financial Services Group and author of the report. “Concept delivery and needs analysis are very important steps in life insurance sales.”
This report examines the growth of Internet users, mobile broadband subscriptions, and smartphone and tablet users in Asian countries. It looks at life insurance e-business market size growth trends and online product trends, identifying key points in the life insurance online sales process, introducing best practices, and making suggestions for life insurers with regard to improving life insurance online sales.
This 36-page report contains 23 figures and 7 tables.
Celent is a research and advisory firm dedicated to helping financial institutions formulate comprehensive business and technology strategies. Celent publishes reports identifying trends and best practices in financial services technology and conducts consulting engagements for financial institutions looking to use technology to enhance existing business processes or launch new business strategies. With a team of internationally based analysts, Celent is uniquely positioned to offer strategic advice and market insights on a global basis. Celent is a member of the Oliver Wyman Group, which is part of Marsh & McLennan Companies [NYSE: MMC].
Media Contacts
North America (New York)
Dana Greenstein
dgreenstein@celent.com
Tel.: +1 646 364 8254
Europe (London)
Chris Williams
cwilliams@celent.com
Tel: +44 (0)208 870 7875
Asia (Tokyo)
Yumi Nagaoka
ynagaoka@celent.com
Tel.: +81.3.3500.3023
Table of Contents
Executive Summary | 1 | |
Introduction | 3 | |
| About this Report | 3 |
| Growth of Internet Users in Asia | 4 |
| Growth of Mobile Broadband Subscriptions | 5 |
| Growth of Smartphones and Tablets | 6 |
Life Insurance E-Business Overview and Trends in Asia | 9 | |
| Market Size | 9 |
| Life Insurance E-Business Product Trends | 11 |
| Life Insurance E-Business Target Age Group | 13 |
| Online Insurance Companies and Aggregators | 14 |
| Regulations for E-Commence | 15 |
Insurance E-Business Process | 17 | |
| Insurance Agent Sales Process and Skills | 17 |
| Online Sales Process | 17 |
| Concept Delivery Phase Strategy | 19 |
| Key Points for Online Sales Process | 20 |
| Seek Potential Clients | 21 |
Insurance E-Business Best Practices in Asia | 22 | |
| Leveraging Video in Online Insurance | 22 |
| Improve Content Quality and Readability | 24 |
| Leverage Various Communication Methods | 26 |
| Improve User Experience | 26 |
| Well-Organized Websites | 30 |
Conclusion | 32 | |
Leveraging Celent’s Expertise | 35 | |
| Support for Financial Institutions | 35 |
| Support for Vendors | 35 |
Related Celent Research | 36 | |