The Financial Supervisory Commission yesterday said it would consider allowing online-only sales of insurance policies even after the COVID-19 pandemic ends, if the Internet tools used by life insurers prove effective and pose little risk.
The commission in May allowed several life insurers to sell their products via online tools, such as videoconferencing, as a temporary measure to help them maintain their operations amid a local COVID-19 outbreak, Insurance Bureau Deputy Director-General Chang Yu-hui (張玉輝) said.
“We will see how well the insurers have utilized the digital tools to sell their products and whether they have difficulty authenticating clients’ identities to determine if we should approve the use of such tools after the pandemic slows,” Chang said.
That would be a major change for the sector, as the commission has long required insurance agents to meet clients in person during sales pitches and witness clients signing the documents in person, except for several types of policies with lower risks that can be sold online, such as travel insurance.
It is not clear whether the commission would initially allow insurers to sell every kind of policy online, Chan said.
Given that most life insurers used videoconferencing to interact with clients and confirm their identities, the commission would consider creating a new regulation governing the use of such tools, instead of amending regulations, Chang said.
As the most challenging part of selling policies online is confirming a client’s identity to prevent fraud, Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽) has asked its clients to say their names as well as the policy’s content out loud in front of a camera and then sign the documents, executive vice president Lin Chao-ting (林昭廷) told a news conference yesterday.
“It does not sound cutting-edge, but this way the identification process is straightforward and clients have a better experience,” Lin said.
Cathay Life has sold 45,000 insurance policies via videoconferencing, gaining a market share of 75 percent, Lin said.
More than 90 percent of its agents and clients were satisfied with Cathay Life’s virtual tool and they continued using the digital channel even though local infections had fallen over the past week, Lin said.
Last week, 39.6 percent of all of Cathay Life’s policies were sold via videoconferencing, compared with 18.6 percent in the middle of May, when Cathay Life had just launched the tool, he said.
“Consumers have become accustomed to the new service, and our agents are also happy, as they can spend less time commuting between clients. It seems that sales via videoconferencing will become the norm in the future,” Lin said.
Twenty-six percent of the deals were made between clients and sales agents residing in different counties, he said.
However, that videoconferencing is convenient does not mean that sales agents no longer need to visit their clients, as maintaining good connections with customers still matter, he added.
US SANCTIONS: The Taiwan tech giant has ended all shipments to China-based Sophgo Technologies after one of their chips was discovered in a Huawei phone Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) suspended shipments to China-based chip designer Sophgo Technologies Ltd (算能科技) after a chip it made was found on a Huawei Technologies Co (華為) artificial intelligence (AI) processor, according to two people familiar with the matter. Sophgo had ordered chips from TSMC that matched the one found on Huawei’s Ascend 910B, the people said. Huawei is restricted from buying the technology to protect US national security. Reuters could not determine how the chip ended up on the Huawei product. Sophgo said in a statement on its Web site yesterday that it was in compliance with all laws
TECH TITANS: Nvidia briefly overtook Apple again on Friday after becoming the world’s largest company for a short period in June, as Microsoft fell to third place Nvidia Corp dethroned Apple Inc as the world’s most valuable company on Friday following a record-setting rally in the stock, powered by insatiable demand for its specialized artificial intelligence (AI) chips. Nvidia’s stock market value briefly touched US$3.53 trillion, slightly above Apple’s US$3.52 trillion, London Stock Exchange Group data showed. Nvidia ended the day up 0.8 percent, with a market value of US$3.47 trillion, while Apple’s shares rose 0.4 percent, valuing the iPhone maker at US$3.52 trillion. In June, Nvidia briefly became the world’s most valuable company before it was overtaken by Microsoft Corp and Apple. The tech trio’s market capitalizations have been
Shares of Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) surged more than 53 percent on its debut on the Taiwan stock exchange yesterday. Starlux shares closed up 53.75 percent at NT$30.75 from its initial public offering price of NT$20 after retreating in late trading from a 60 percent rise. China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) rose 0.90 percent to close at NT$22.35, while EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) gained 0.40 percent to close at NT$37.70. In Taiwan, a newly listed stock is allowed to go beyond the 10 percent maximum increase or decline in its first five trading sessions. At the listing ceremony, Starlux chairman Chang Kuo-wei (張國煒) said
SPEED OF LIGHT: US lawmakers urged the commerce department to examine the national security threats from China’s development of silicon photonics technology US President Joe Biden’s administration on Monday said it is finalizing rules that would limit US investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and other technology sectors in China that could threaten US national security. The rules, which were proposed in June by the US Department of the Treasury, were directed by an executive order signed by Biden in August last year covering three key sectors: semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies and certain AI systems. The rules are to take effect on Jan. 2 next year and would be overseen by the Treasury’s newly created Office of Global Transactions. The Treasury said the “narrow