1. Insurers Go Social to Keep Up With Customers - Korea Real Time - WSJ
1 of 2
http://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2013/10/11/insurers-go-social-to-k...
October 11, 2013, 5:39 PM KST
Insurers Go Social to Keep Up With Customers
ByKanga Kong
Associated Press
AXA Direct is using the mobile chat app Kakao Talk
as a platform for its customers.
Insurers in South Korea are increasingly looking to sell auto insurance on mobile platforms such as
social network services or SNS amid falling margins and rising demand for quick and easy access.
While selling insurance through smartphone apps is not new, insurers like France’s Axa Direct are
looking to widen their sales channels to SNS, Xavier Veyry, the CEO of Axa Direct in Korea and Japan
told The Wall Street Journal.
At the moment, 14 local and foreign insurers are competing for a share of the $3 billion market in South
Korea, according to data from the local financial watchdog Financial Supervisory Service.
“Distribution through SNS platforms…is a definitely a route we are exploring,” Mr. Veyry said, as
leveraging peer recommendations though SNS will help it reach out to the targeted population. He said
his company had been working for the past eight months to develop a strategy, and was very close to
entering mobile platforms and social networks for insurance sales.
“Very often, insurers believe that people have time to inquire, or spend 15-20 minutes on the Web to see
differences of various products,” but that’s not true, Mr. Veyry said.
In its first step to win easier access to customers, Axa Direct began using Kakao Talk, a mobile chat app
on over 20 million South Korean phones as a platform for its policyholders. Axa Direct has some 1
million auto-insurance policyholders in South Korea.
Through Axa Direct on a Kakao Talk chat list, you can get the certification process done more quickly
than on the phone and also get information such as the location of the nearest car repair shop, Axa
says.
“I’m convinced the next generation of successful insurers will be online retailers, and this is a
fundamental change,” Mr. Veyry said.
Penetration of auto insurance online rose to 30% last year from below 15% in 2006 in South Korea,
11/2/2013 12:27 PM

2. Insurers Go Social to Keep Up With Customers - Korea Real Time - WSJ
2 of 2
http://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2013/10/11/insurers-go-social-to-k...
according to Accenture.
David Link, head of Accenture’s Korean Financial Services, said more leading insurers were selling and
servicing through mobile devices after consumers started to expect the same service, whether they
were on a tablet, phone or a PC.
“You’ll be most satisfied by the insurer agile enough to respond to you and your specific needs
immediately, with a consistent response and service across all channels – web, mobile app, agent, or call
center. Five years ago, you wouldn’t have had such expectations,” he said.
Sellers of non-life insurance have faced increasing competition in recent years, as more foreign
insurers compete with domestic giants. The operating margin of non-life insurers fell to 2.23% at
end-June from 4.1% at end June 2010, according to the FSS data.
Copyright 2013 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by
copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit
www.djreprints.com
11/2/2013 12:27 PM