NTUC Income Makes First Foray Overseas, Offers Insurance-as-a-Service in Southeast Asia

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 28 October
2021 – NTUC Income (Income), a leading composite insurer in
Singapore, today made its first overseas foray into three Southeast Asian
markets through strategic partnerships with PT Central Asia Financial (JAGADIRI)
in Indonesia, Post and Telecommunication Joint Stock Insurance Corporation
(PTI) in Vietnam and VSure Tech Sdn. Bhd (VSure) in Malaysia.

Income’s CEO Andrew Yeo and
CDO Peter Tay at a Virtual Strategic Partnership Agreement Signing Ceremony
with partner representatives – Reginald Hamdani, CEO, JAGADIRI; Bùi Xuân Thu,
CEO, PTI and Eddy Wong, CEO and Co-founder, VSure

These strategic
alliances are built on Income’s Insurance-as-a-Service (IaaS) model that enables
the company to bring digital-first insurance business models to partners overseas,
enhance their speed-to-market, and equip them with the right capabilities and
tools to capture new customer segments and revenue streams.

Partners will also be able to leverage Income’s strong
brand reputation and track record in digital product innovation to support market
roll-out, as well as its technology know-how and connectivity with digital
ecosystems for greater agility to innovate at scale to meet consumers’ changing
needs.

Since the start
of the COVID-19 pandemic[1], 70
million people in Southeast Asia (SEA) have become digital consumers and are making
online purchases more than before. Almost 80% of the population in SEA is
projected to become digital consumers by end 2021, signalling strong demand for
digital consumption in the region.

The market size
for digital insurance is also projected to reach US$7.6 billion by 2025[2], with digital financial
services taking off in SEA in a way that is exciting for both consumers and
businesses. More significantly, the acceleration of digital consumption is showing
no signs of abating, with nine in 10 new digital consumers intending to continue
using digital services in the future[3].

Andrew Yeo, Chief Executive
Officer, Income
said, “Our foray overseas opens a new chapter of growth for Income and is a
natural next step in our strategic growth plan. The market potential of
countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam is huge given their relatively
young populations and high mobile penetration rates. Considering their large
geographical distribution areas, I believe that these markets are especially primed
for new digital insurance propositions that are enabled by technology. The
diversity of our regional partners is a testament to the value of our IaaS
model and more significantly, signals that Income is well placed to work with
any partner in Asia.”

Yeo added, “As a born and bred insurer in Singapore, we
understand that homegrown businesses know their local consumers best, hence the
partnerships are a win-win for us. By forming strategic alliances with
like-minded local partners, it allows us to understand the demands of Asia’s
digital-first population first-hand, scale our offerings quicker through our
partner ecosystems, and most importantly, better relate insurance to customers and
make insurance accessible to more. Income’s purpose is to empower better
financial well-being for all, and to offer insurance access even to the
underserved among us. We aim to stay committed to our cause even as we plant
our flag abroad.”

Bringing innovative new insurance business models
to overseas markets

Since the inception of
the Digital Transformation Office (DTO) more than four years ago, Income has
been innovating and rolling out new insurance business models such as
micro-insurance (SNACK), subscription insurance (TRIBE) and
usage-based insurance (Milesurance, Gigsurance and Freightsurance).

These propositions bring
to market a new way of engaging with, and consuming insurance that is embedded
in customers’ lifestyles. This calls for a shift in conventional insurance mindset
and appetite for unprecedented risks, alongside a new appreciation for data,
insurtech and an iterative approach to product design and roll-out.

Peter
Tay, Chief Digital Officer, Income said, “As we bring new insurance innovations to the market,
we are able to fold our experience and learn from reimagining insurance across
the value chain into an Insurance-as-a-Service model. Our regional partners recognise
the immense competitive advantage that comes with the model as Income grows our
digital ecosystem and continues to evolve our way of working with ecosystem
partners, be it in Singapore or regionally. The IaaS model, thus, plays to our strength as a digital
insurer, connecting partners with the right capabilities, technology know-how
and innovative insurance models to transform and scale their business models
efficiently.”

Tay
added, “JAGADIRI, PTI and VSure are well-respected
brand names in their respective markets. We are honoured to have them onboard
our IaaS model and look forward to bringing more ground-breaking insurance
propositions to delight customers and plug the protection gaps in these
markets. Whether it is through our borderless and modular plug-and-play application
program interface (API) microservices, product innovations, seamless customer
journey design or dynamic pricing capabilities, we are confident that the IaaS
model will not just complement, but value add to partners’ existing solutions and
strengthen their value propositions in the insurance, broker or insurtech
arenas.”

Partnering homegrown businesses to cater to the needs
of the local market

As part of Income’s
strategic partnerships with JAGADIRI, PTI and VSure, these companies will be
the first in Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia to launch Droplet respectively
across four cities including Greater Jakarta, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh
City, as well as Kuala Lumpur.

Droplet is a first-of-its-kind micro-insurance
product that is designed to address a major pain point of consumers in
Southeast Asia – price surges on ride-hailing platforms during rainy days.

In 2020, the total market value of ride hailing in SEA was estimated to
be at US$11billion[4], with Indonesia leading (US$5 billion) the pack, followed by Singapore
(US$2 billion), Vietnam (US$1.6 billion) and Malaysia (US$1.1 billion). With the total value of
the ride hailing market in SEA projected to increase by almost four times to
US$42 billion by 2025, this tremendous demand for ride-hailing services among
Southeast Asians has given rise to the need for “rainsurance” like Droplet to protect consumers
financially against price surges on these platforms, particularly during the
monsoon season. 

“Technology-enabled lifestyle has opened up real
opportunities for insurance solutions. The ride-hailing phenomenon and the
launch of Droplet are cases in point. We are bullish about lifestyle-embedded
insurance propositions such as Droplet and will continue to take inspirations
from lifestyle pain points of consumers in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Vietnam, and beyond to drive innovation, co-create digital-first insurance
products and customer journeys for more people regionally,” enthused Peter
Tay.