Hong Kong insurers should broaden horizons to tap opportunities in Greater Bay Area
- Hong Kong insurers need to be innovative and forge closer ties with the Greater Bay Area or risk losing out to Singapore and Shanghai, according to the Financial Services Development Council
- More needs to be done in terms of initiatives to enable Hong Kong companies to gain access to the mainland market, council says
Hong Kong needs to leverage its connection with the Greater Bay Area and develop more insurtech products to compete with regional cities such as Singapore or Shanghai as a life insurance hub, according to a report by the Financial Services Development Council (FSDC) released on Monday.
“Singapore has numerous initiatives to support the development of insurtech, such as heavily sponsoring the development of innovation centres and relevant start-ups. Hong Kong, in comparison, has fewer of such measures,” said Winnie Wong, a member of the FSDC.
Hong Kong life insurers also need to promote new technology to cut costs and enhance efficiency, the FSDC said in the report entitled “Enhancing Hong Kong’s Role as a Leading Life Insurance Centre”.
Hong Kong’s Insurance Authority launched a “sandbox” scheme in September 2017 to allow insurers to trial new technologies before gaining regulatory approval. HSBC, Manulife, Prudential, and AIA have all introduced electronic platforms to allow customers to process claims.
Insurers have also been developing technologies to detect fraud using artificial intelligence and blockchain, said a spokeswoman of the Hong Kong Federation of Insurers.
