What's Driving Asia's Insurance Boom?

A significant insurance gap still exist in Asia where a large number of population are underinsured. At the same time, they are not saving enough, leaving them inadequately prepared for retirement. This as people are living longer.

AWANI Review's Cynthia Ng speaks to Prudential Plc Group CEO Mike Wells on how these structural drivers are shaping the British insurer's long term strategy in the region. He was in Kuala Lumpur recently to launch an AI-driven health application Pulse. Malaysia was chosen as the first country to debut the app.

Wells talks about emerging trends arising for insurers, where the next competitive advantage will be created by delivery on-demand and hyper-personalised services.

"China (is a country) where consumers want everything digital," says Wells. "It’s mobile payment through Alipay and WeChat it's phone based facial recognition security - they do not want a piece of paper.

"Some of the technologies that insurers need is not so much about innovation, it’s about meeting consumer demand. Where do they want you to be. If you don’t do that, then you do leave room for disruptors.

"So our business in China is completely mobile - a hundred percent payment on Alipay and WeChat, a hundred percent premium collection payment of claims - because that’s what the consumers expect," he says.

Watch the full interview with Wells below: