网络互助平台相继关停后超亿用户“裸保” 巨量用户或转向网销医疗险和重疾险
本报记者 苏向杲
1月24日，距离国内参与人数最多的网络互助平台——相互宝停止运营还有4天，这个用户一度超1亿人的互助平台，将在1月28日停止运营。
据《证券日报》记者统计，自2021年以来，互联网巨头旗下的网络互助平台纷纷宣布关停，包括百度灯火互助、小米互助、美团互助、360互助等，这些互助平台关停后超1.1亿用户将面临“裸保”。
网络互助平台缘何纷纷倒下？在险企人士看来，主因还是其经营模式陷入瓶颈，随着大量高龄、带病用户的参与，平台的逆选择风险大幅提升，用户均摊费用大幅增加，消费者纷纷选择离开。从外因来看，随着监管约束强化，叠加惠民保等网销保险冲击，网络互助的引流难度提升，加速了网络互助平台的关停。
保险业界较为关注的是，大量网络互助关停后，巨量用户将何去何从？目前，多个平台在宣布关停后，建议用户购买保障类型较为相似的重疾险产品。从趋势来看，中国精算师协会创始会员、先后供职于多家险企的资深精算师徐昱琛告诉《证券日报》记者，网络互助培养了网民的保险意识，随着网络互助关停，大量用户或将购买网销医疗险或重疾险产品。
网络互助模式落幕
网络互助模式已有十余年发展历程。
2011年，康爱公社建立，网络互助模式兴起，此后，水滴互助和轻松互助成立。2018年末，蚂蚁集团推出相互宝，并在短时间内吸纳了超1亿用户，引发市场极大关注。
2019年，灯火互助(百度旗下)、美团互助(美团旗下)、京东互保(京东旗下)、小米互助(小米旗下)、点滴互助(滴滴旗下)、360互助(360旗下)等多家网络互助平台进军网络互助领域，抢占市场，将网络互助的热度推向高潮。
互联网巨头纷纷介入这一市场，主要缘于其高成长性和“引流效应”。
The underlying business logic of network mutual assistance originates from the insurance industry, but the business model is quite different from that of insurance companies.
Network mutual aid uses the information matching function of the Internet to allow many members to bear each other's risks and losses through agreement.
Take a mutual aid platform as an example, after joining the platform's mutual aid plan, users deposit several tens of yuan to become members. If other members are sick, the platform will deduct the user's equal costs until the deduction is complete.
The online mutual aid platform does not require the high establishment cost, operation cost and reinsurance cost of insurance companies, and realizes disintermediation and zero additional fees.
Under the same guarantee conditions, the cost of online mutual assistance is cheaper than that of insurance products. Therefore, the online mutual assistance platform has quickly attracted a large number of users in the early days of its establishment.
It can also be seen from the data that many online mutual aids have been greatly recognized by users in the early stage of establishment, especially users in third-tier and below cities and rural areas, who are very enthusiastic to participate.
The "Internet Mutual Aid Industry White Paper" released by the Ant Group Research Institute in 2020 shows that in 2019, the actual number of participants in my country's Internet mutual aid platforms has reached 150 million, and the development speed is extremely rapid.
However, for network mutual aid, how to "realize" huge traffic is the key to profitability.
Tianfeng Securities analyst Xia Changsheng pointed out that the management fee charged by the online mutual aid platform is low, and the profit model is mainly to convert users into commercial insurance buyers by cultivating users' risk awareness, and charging insurance companies' intermediary fees.
However, the vast majority of online mutual aid platforms were shut down before the "drainage effect" was realized.
According to the statistics of Securities Daily reporters, before 2021, a large number of online mutual aid platforms have been shut down, including Tongxin Mutual Aid, 17 Mutual Aid, Dandelion Mutual Aid, Gentle Mutual Aid, Zebra Mutual Aid, Future Mutual Aid, Tadpole Mutual Aid, Big Tree Mutual Aid, and Neighbor Mutual Aid Wait.
Since 2021, the top mutual aid platforms Huubao, Easy Mutual Aid, Shuidi Mutual Aid, and Meituan Mutual Aid have all announced their closure, with tens of millions of users before the shutdown.
The departure of online mutual aid giants also proves that this model has failed to withstand the test of the market.
Multiple dilemmas
The underlying business logic of network mutual assistance originates from the insurance industry, and its operational risks are similar to those of the insurance industry. One of the common risks is adverse selection risk, that is, the insured makes a contractual choice that is not conducive to the interests of the insurer. Taking too much risk.
This is also a "Sword of Damocles" hanging over the heads of insurance companies and online mutual aid users
In order to minimize the risk of adverse selection, insurance companies have set up strict underwriting and claims procedures to reduce the risk of policyholders' premiums and company losses.
However, the online mutual aid platform cannot underwrite a large number of users one by one, and a large number of elderly and sick users are pouring in, which makes the average cost of users rise, and creates a vicious circle that is not conducive to the sustainable operation of the platform: loose auditing - a large influx of users - Average cost increases - Healthy users quit - Average cost increases further - User continues to churn - Platform shuts down.
Judging from the reasons for the shutdown given by many online mutual aid platforms that have been shut down before, some called it "business adjustment", some called it "business upgrade", and some bluntly said that "no profit model has been found".
However, in the view of industry insiders, the risk caused by adverse selection is still one of the important reasons.
Su Fang, a professor at the School of Finance of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, believes that online mutual assistance extends the scope of mutual assistance to strangers, with serious information asymmetry and lack of moral restraint.
Online mutual aid does not have the strict underwriting and compensation system of commercial insurance, and there is a risk of adverse selection among members, so that the actual cost of members participating in the online mutual aid platform does not match its real risk level.
For example, in some projects with a large age span, the young share the mutual aid of the elderly.
In order to prevent the above-mentioned risks and verify mutual aid applications, online mutual aid platforms will incur high management costs, which is an important issue faced by the industry.
Judging from specific cases, many mutual aid platforms suffered operating losses due to adverse selection and other issues.
For example, 17 Mutual Aid, which had more than one million users and has ceased operations, said that the main reason for the suspension of operations was that “the company did not find a model for making profits through mutual aid services, resulting in serious project losses.”
360 Mutual Aid previously stated at the time of the shutdown that due to the continuous decline in the number of members and the inability to maintain long-term loss-making operations, the platform has now been shut down, and can only return the unallocated recharge amount. The historically apportioned amount has been donated to patients, and the platform cannot recover it.
In addition to the difficulties in the business model, the impact of some competing insurance products has also put the online mutual aid model to many tests.
Tao Shengyu, an analyst at Orient Securities, said that in addition to the risk of adverse selection, other factors such as the increased substitution effect and the increased difficulty in the drainage of mutual aid plans have also accelerated the withdrawal of online mutual aid from the historical stage.
In addition, the premiums and cost-sharing are basically the same, but with stronger government endorsement and higher compensation ceilings, various local Huimin Insurance have been launched successively, making it more difficult to attract mutual aid plans to a certain extent.
In the future, the chances of network mutual aid reappearing on the stage are very slim.
Xu Yuchen also told reporters that online mutual aid lost its advantage due to the continuous increase in the cost of sharing.
At the same time, online mutual assistance can unilaterally change the rules, which is easy to cause disputes, but there is no such problem once an insurance contract is signed.
There have also been many problems after the network mutual aid was shut down.
Suo Lingyan, deputy dean of the School of Economics of Peking University and professor of the Department of Risk Management and Insurance, said that after many mutual aid platforms were shut down, the problems of "mutual aid" refunds, user rights protection, account balance usage problems and user problems were exposed. Information maintenance issues have caused a lot of controversy.
Consumer demand remains
Many internal and external factors have made online mutual aid come to an end, but in the eyes of industry insiders, online mutual aid also has some significance for reference.
On the one hand, online mutual assistance has provided a substantial guarantee for a large number of participants.
Taking Mutual Treasure as an example, since its launch at the end of 2018, a total of 179,000 sick members have been rescued.
On the other hand, it has raised the public's awareness of serious illness protection and indirectly carried out "insurance awareness education".
The insurance business team of Boston Consulting Group (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. believes that, on the one hand, online mutual assistance has improved the public's awareness of risk protection and opened the door for the promotion and sales of real protection insurance products in the later period; on the other hand, a large number of member data It also lays a solid data foundation for the development of new products.
It is worth noting that after the closure of the head network mutual aid platform, the security needs of a large number of users have not disappeared. With the continuous improvement of users' risk awareness, this demand may become stronger.
Judging from the alternatives given after the closure of major platforms, after multiple network mutual aids are closed, it is recommended that users purchase critical illness insurance or accident insurance from insurance companies to make up for the lack of protection.
Xu Yuchen told reporters that after the shutdown of online mutual aid, a large number of users may purchase online medical insurance or critical illness insurance products, which is beneficial to the development of the Internet insurance industry.
From an institutional point of view, Tao Shengyu believes that the end of online mutual assistance will enable traditional insurance companies with multiple channel advantages to gradually show their competitiveness.
(Securities Daily)