Innovation and sustainability at Shin Kong Life

September 2024

For over six decades, Shin Kong Life has been committed to supporting the welfare of the people of Taiwan, guided by a corporate commitment to benefiting humanity, the principles of innovation, service, integrity and giving back to society, and a mission to make insurance coverage available to all.

Shin Kong Life has a company culture that emphasizes innovation, the importance of service quality, duty and compassion, and a commitment to making life better for the people of Taiwan. 

It consistently strives to provide quality financial and insurance products and services to meet customer protection needs while exemplifying social responsibility. Shin Kong Life has made steady progress toward its vision of sustainable development, while continuing to make a positive impact and embodying the spirit of its slogan, "Light Everywhere, Heart Always with You." 

Optimizing the customer experience through innovation

Shin Kong Life actively invests in insurance technology to optimize customer services and streamline claims processing. It cultivates the digital capabilities of its agents, resulting in a prevalence of agents using digital tools to serve policyholders, saving over 16 million sheets of paper annually and reducing carbon emissions by over 110 tons.¹

Shin Kong’s innovative digital services include:

• Diverse accessible channels
• Innovative insurance enrollment experience
• User-friendly payment inquiry service
• Convenient claims application processes
• Timely response to customers

In 2024, Shin Kong Life won Four Golden Torch Awards for "Innovative Design" and "Customer Satisfaction" at the 18th Golden Torch Awards ceremony, organized by the Outstanding Enterprise Management Association (OEMA).  It also received the "Excellent Customer Satisfaction Award" for its user-friendly financial services and innovative, sustainable service experiences, highlighting Shin Kong Life's achievements in innovative product development and service operations.²

At the Customer Service Excellence Awards (CSEA) in 2023, Shin Kong Life was recognized in five categories:

• "Best Customer Service Enterprise"
• "Best Customer Service Digital Intelligent System Application Enterprise"
• "Best Integrated Marketing Enterprise"
• “Best Customer Service Team" in the team category 
• "Best Customer Service Training Star" in the individual category 

"Best Customer Service Digital Intelligent System Application Enterprise" was awarded to Shin Kong Life for moving beyond current technological limitations and developing personalized data scenarios, including the introduction and continued enhancement of the industry’s first 24-hour online AI (Artificial Intelligence) customer service robot known as, "Xiaoxin".

In the area of administration, Shin Kong uses digital technology such as AI to automate back-office processes, improve efficiency and accelerate customer self-service with over 30 policyholder services available on-line and personalized message notifications.³

Shin Kong Life supports green finance initiatives by incorporating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues into its product development processes.

It responded to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through specific actions related to a "Sustainable Planet" and "Shared Society", especially by actively promoting digital financial services to customers and partners – conveying that a reduction in paper equals a reduction in carbon.

At the 2024 "TSAA Asia-Pacific and Taiwan Sustainability Action Awards" hosted by the Taiwan Sustainable Energy Research Foundation, Shin Kong Life won two awards related to United Nations goals for sustainability in the areas of “Quality Education” and “Climate Action”.

Recognizing that education is an important part of sustainable social development, Shin Kong Life has long been committed to narrowing the gap in education between urban and rural areas and supports diverse learning and development.

Shin Kong Life has also introduced the Climate-Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD), a framework to identify climate-related risks and opportunities and to evaluate the potential impact of climate change on the company. With this information, it can develop strategies to reduce carbon in daily operations, implement responsible investment and financing principles, conduct ESG assessments and establish related management processes.⁴

Shin Kong Life responds to the "Health and Well-being" goal in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and actively works to build an inclusive healthcare protection network

It has organized national blood donation campaigns and health promotion seminars to raise health awareness among the public and encourage people to care about their health. In addition, Shin Kong Life also supports telemedicine to provide health information to the elderly and eliminate the disparity in healthcare resources between urban and rural areas.

As attention has shifted from paying claims to prevention, Shin Kong Life uses its digital tools to integrate wellness and wellbeing into its health and medical insurance products.

In collaboration with Lydia AI, a leading Canadian health AI company, Shin Kong launched the "AI Good Age Living" app, which gives customers an overview of their health risks.

By combining diverse personal health data and the AI computing analysis engine via the app, it assists consumers in understanding their own health, evaluating risks, and planning for their future "physical health" and "financial health".

The "AI Good Age Living" app is based on health points.  Through AI analysis of an individual’s health data, it generates health assessment reports to show health status and risk for disease via a points system.

Based on the report, individuals can adopt activities and practices that promote good health. The app also can calculate out-of-pocket medical expenses.

By 2025, Taiwan will become a “super-aged” society, meaning over 20% of the population will be 65 and older.⁵

To meet the challenges of an aging population, Shin Kong Life uses its digital infrastructure and elderly-friendly financial services to reduce fraud against seniors and improve their digital literacy by organizing a series of anti-fraud seminars across Taiwan. 

In 2023, Shin Kong Life launched the "Go Healthy Enjoy Good Gifts" program in collaboration with Medical Union Network, to provide the latest health care information to the public. It encourages people to build a solid foundation for health in their daily lives, especially by completing the "8 Daily Health Tasks", such as achieving 8,000 steps per day, smiling daily, consuming five fruits and vegetables daily and not drinking sugary drinks. Participants can accumulate points and be eligible for prizes.

To fill gaps in government social insurance or social assistance programs, Shin Kong Life has long cooperated with regulatory authorities to promote microinsurance for vulnerable groups. Microinsurance is characterized by its low premiums, convenient purchase, and exemption from medical examinations.

In 2023, Shin Kong Life expanded the implementation of "Microinsurance for Low-Income Households" in cooperation with the Yunlin County Government. This initiative provides one-year coverage, fully sponsored by Shin Kong Life and the Shin Kong Life Charity Foundation, to give additional protection to vulnerable groups, such as low and lower-middle-income families, disadvantaged children and adolescents, families with special circumstances, individuals with intellectual disabilities, and indigenous households.

Since 2014, nearly 190,000 people have benefited from these initiatives, with sponsored premiums totaling nearly NT$40 million. Including individual microinsurance, cumulative premiums have exceeded NT$50 million. Shin Kong Life hopes that vulnerable groups can enjoy basic protection every year, realizing the corporate philosophy of "insurance for everyone, protection for every household."⁶  

To learn more, visit Shin Kong Life official website