Chinese insurers eye opportunities in online payment services

Payment platforms have emerged as a new battlefield for Chinese insurers, who see internet finance as being increasingly lucrative, but their ambitions could be hindered by concerns over cost and competition from e-commerce giants, analysts said.

With China's e-commerce industry growing by leaps and bounds, insurers could diversify their sales channels through providing third-party payment services, said Wang Guojun, an insurance professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.

Ping An Insurance, the mainland's second-largest insurer, entered the third-party payment business last month by acquiring a local company with the necessary licence, becoming the first Chinese insurer to join the fray.

Ping An launched its mobile payment and social networking platform, named Yiwallet, earlier in the month.

Taikang Life Insurance started selling insurance online last year, teaming up with Taobao, the online mall of e-commerce giant Alibaba, which controls third-party payment arm Alipay.

Non-life insurers, such as PICC Property & Casualty and China Pacific Property Insurance, are also selling policies on Taobao.