Hong Kong sets 50% benchmark on referral fees paid by licensed insurance brokers.
Asia-Pacific’s insurance sector from 1 to 5 September saw new product launches, regulatory changes, market expansion moves, and insurtech funding activity.
Insurance technology (insurtech) firm bolttech is entering the Kenyan market. The Singapore-headquartered company has partnered with LOOP, a digital banking service from NCBA Bank, to launch LOOP Flex to the bank’s customers in October 2025.
Also, the insurtech, together with GSMA’s Mobile World Live, has published a whitepaper on how mobile network operators (MNOs) can expand into embedded insurance to generate new revenue streams.
Meanwhile, Manulife Hong Kong and Macau has expanded hospital access for its individual medical plan customers to include over 38,000 public and private hospitals across Mainland China.
The enhancement applies to all Manulife medical plans except the Cancer Treatment Benefit, allowing customers to claim eligible medical expenses at any public or private hospital in the Mainland.
On the retail side of things, Allianz General Insurance Company (Malaysia) Berhad and ShopeePay have partnered to introduce two personal accident insurance plans priced at $11.82 (RM50) and $17.73 (RM75) annually.
The plans are eligible for the government’s Perlindungan Tenang Voucher (PTV) Programme, which provides a $7.09 (RM30) subsidy to up to two million Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah recipients under the National Budget 2025.
Recent regulatory changes include Hong Kong Insurance Authority’s (HKIA) recent set-up of the 50% benchmark on referral fees paid by licensed insurance broker companies for participating policies, effective 1 October 2025.
Furthermore, Malaysia has introduced the third phase of the Perlindungan Tenang Voucher (PTV) scheme on 1 September, giving Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) recipients $7.10 (RM30) to buy insurance or takaful products, according to the General Insurance Association of Malaysia (PIAM).
In terms of market updates, Asia-Pacific held 16% of the total global insurtech funding landscape in the second quarter (Q2 2025), with $22m raised across 10 deals, according to CoinLaw.
Meanwhile, Asia continues to face a large protection gap, with insurance covering only 12% of economic losses from natural catastrophes, compared to 32% in Latin America and 48% in North America, according to Verisk’s 2025 Global Modeled Catastrophe Losses Report.
