Multi Award Winning UK Fintech Startup Bought By Many Announces China Launch
By Steven Mendel Bought By Many, the UK startup using social media to disrupt the insurance industry, today announces its launch into the fast-growing Chinese insurance market.
Big Data-Driven Product Innovation
Bought By Many has partnered with Ping An Insurance, China’s second largest insurance company, creating seven new Travel Insurance propositions which meet specific needs of Chinese consumers.
In line with the big data-driven approach pioneered by Bought By Many in the UK, anonymised data from search engines, social media, and online forums was analysed to identify consumer needs which are not currently being addressed by generic Travel Insurance offerings.
The Ping An branded products launched today include Travel Insurance for Hiking, which features extended cover for altitude sickness on domestic expeditions. Another new proposition, Travel Insurance for Gourmets, addresses the growing popularity of farm stays in China, and offers food poisoning cover.
Ground-breaking Social Media Insurance Distribution
The new propositions are being marketed by Bought By Many through China’s social network and mobile platforms, including Tencent’s WeChat – the world’s fastest-growing social network, which has over 550m monthly active users [1].
Bought By Many Co-Founder and CEO Steven Mendel commented: "In the UK, the ability to reach highly targeted audiences through Facebook and Twitter has been key to our success. I am delighted we are now pioneering the use of platforms like WeChat to distribute financial services.",
"Huge Opportunity"
General Insurance is already a $127bn market in China – £20bn larger than the UK. The market has grown 12x since 2000, but still has significant headroom: insurance premiums as a % of GDP are only 3.2%, compared to 10.6% in the UK [2].
Mendel continued: "The fintech opportunity in China is huge. Many startups are put off by language, regulatory, and cultural barriers to entry. But we were convinced our social- and mobile-first approach would translate to China, and today’s launch with Ping An bears that out".
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NOTES FOR EDITORS
About Bought By Many
Bought By Many was named Fintech Innovation of the Year in 2015, ahead of Transferwise and Zopa. In 2014, a Boston Consulting Group and Morgan Stanley report named Bought By Many as the global exemplar of innovation in insurance distribution. Founded in 2012 and based in Farringdon, London, Bought By Many’s UK clients include RSA, John Lewis Insurance, and Petplan. Find out more at boughtbymany.com.
About Ping An Insurance
Established in 1988, Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China Ltd is China’s second largest insurance company by premium income. With 236,000 employees and 635,000 sales agents, Ping An serves approximately 90 million customers. As at 31 December 2014, the Group’s consolidated total assets were RMB 4.01 trillion.
