Doubao Insurance Tech Empowers Intermediaries with SaaS Solutions to Enter Insurance Service 3.0 Era

The integration of technology and insurance is both a strategic move aligned with prevailing trends and a critical, make-or-break endeavor. On one hand, the increasing penetration of the internet is reshaping consumer behavior. Internet-based insurance also serves as a vital outlet for addressing inherent pain points in traditional insurance channels, such as difficulties in claims processing, lack of user data, and data security concerns.

On the other hand, while growth in traditional insurance channels has been sluggish, China’s total premium volume has maintained steady growth, with both insurance density and insurance penetration increasing in recent years. However, traditional marketing channels are experiencing weak momentum. Due to intensifying competition, high costs, gradual saturation of the agent workforce, and the negative impact of regulatory policies coupled with poor service quality in the bancassurance channel, growth in traditional intermediary marketing channels has slowed. Their share of total premium income has declined year by year since 2011, creating development opportunities for internet-based channels.

How Can Technology and Insurance Be Better Integrated? Zhang Qike, Founder of Doubao.com, Once Noted That the Insurance Services Market Has Entered the 3.0 Stage, Requiring a Shift in Development Model. Introducing Third-Party Insurance Intermediaries Beyond Policyholders and Insurance Companies Is the Direction for Future Industry Development.

The Doubao.com he founded empowers small and medium-sized insurance companies and insurance intermediaries by providing data-driven management systems and building digital assets. Through its one-stop SaaS platform, it helps partner institutions manage customers, expedite claims processing, and mitigate risks, thereby enhancing the efficiency of policy issuance, renewals, and post-policy services.

As of August 2018, the Doubao Wang platform had served more than 100 insurance intermediaries and human resources agencies, with the number of insured individuals exceeding 2 million, the number of corporate clients surpassing 7,000, and 300,000 claims processed.

Zhang Qike, Founder of Doubao.com

Data from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) shows that in 2017, the entire industry achieved original insurance premium income of RMB 3.658101 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 18.16%. Among this, internet insurance premiums amounted to RMB 183.529 billion, with original insurance premium income from ordinary life insurance via internet channels reaching RMB 95.482 billion, representing a year-on-year growth of 99.28%. This rapidly growing market has become a coveted territory for traditional insurance companies, venture capital firms, and technology companies alike.

Meanwhile, different companies have found their own unique approaches to entering the internet insurance market.

In the realm of internet insurance, some companies are driving product innovation by developing new insurance products tailored to diverse consumption scenarios. Innovations in internet insurance marketing can primarily be categorized into three key channels: channel innovation, agent upgrading, and insurer-owned platforms. Channel innovation has gained significant traction with the rise of scenario-based insurance. Traditionally, a substantial portion of insurance marketing relied on the agent channel, where agents often wore multiple hats, fulfilling roles in market education, promotion, and claims processing. With the advent of the internet era, enhancing their professional skills and streamlining marketing processes have become focal points for internet insurance platforms.

Doubao.com has entered the insurance market through service innovation, committed to providing comprehensive protection services centered on “workplace-based marketing + intelligent operations” for insurance intermediaries, insurance companies, and users. Its one-stop intermediary SaaS system features proprietary solutions such as workplace-based viral growth, socialized marketing, intelligent customer service, expedited claims processing, and big data analytics. By empowering stakeholders across the insurance industry value chain, Doubao.com enhances the internet marketing capabilities and service innovation of insurance intermediaries.

Amid the internet insurance boom, Doubao.com has carved out a unique path by entering the market through service innovation.

Why Choose This Path? Zhang Qike, Founder of Doubao.com, Told VCBeat: “When we started our business in 2015 and analyzed the market, we found that users had a relatively low level of professional understanding of insurance and all needed assistance from third-party institutions. However, many third-party institutions were sales-driven. Meanwhile, traditional insurance companies did not invest significantly or consistently in this area.”

Consequently, third-party insurance intermediaries struggle to effectively enhance service quality or ensure strong customer engagement and retention. Inconsistent services and complex processes have created a chasm of distrust between the insurance industry and consumers. However, the inherent nature of internet-based solutions—characterized by single-point investment and multi-point utilization—can address the pain points of all stakeholders without incurring substantial cost increases.

“Internet insurance is, in essence, a future-delivery consumption scenario; consequently, users harbor doubts about the sustainability of insurance intermediation services. We aim to enhance the overall service quality of the insurance industry through such high-frequency, long-term engagement.”

Although Doubao.com’s business model has now gained recognition from numerous small and medium-sized insurers and insurance intermediaries within the industry, it was initially perceived as a competitor.

Initially, Doubao.com chose to focus on corporate group insurance as its flagship product. Recognizing that group insurance involves a wide range of data dimensions due to the large number of cooperating institutions, thereby enabling the accumulation of substantial data, Doubao.com launched its first core offering: the Group Insurance System.

Doubao.com has centered its efforts on user health management data, undertaking extensive data structuring work across dimensions such as insurance policy contractual liabilities, claims processing, and medical-related data. This initiative helps enterprises, insurers, and individuals manage their healthcare responsibilities.

However, in this process, Doubao.com’s business model was misinterpreted as purchasing insurance products, leading insurance intermediary firms to regard it as a competitor.

Subsequently, VCBeat reconfirmed its core business model based on this foundation, opening up its service capabilities to the entire insurance industry, enabling insurance companies, insurance intermediaries, and policyholders to enjoy standardized and high-quality services on a single platform.

Zhang Qike told VCBeat, “Doubao.com is currently positioned to serve insurance brokerage firms and the sales departments of insurance companies by providing them with operational services. Doubao.com offers not only standalone software solutions but also comprehensive operational support. As standardized services are established and data accumulates, it will generate increasing value.”

In the future, insurance will evolve from scenario-based models to platform-based and ecosystem-driven approaches. Leveraging its robust technological capabilities, Doubao.com will export its technology to other insurers, intermediary marketing service firms, and even non-financial services companies, providing users with a seamlessly integrated ecosystem solution.

Reference: ZhongAn Online: The Leading Internet Insurer Driven by Fintech – Guotai Junan Securities

In-Depth Report on the Insurance Industry: Examining the Development of Internet Insurance in China Through Ant Financial – Ping An Securities