More than 100 million users "naked insurance" after the online mutual aid platforms were shut down one after another

After the online mutual aid platforms were shut down one after another, over 100 million users "bare insurance", and a huge number of users may turn to online sales of medical insurance and critical illness insurance

　　Our reporter Su Xianggao

　　On January 24, there are still 4 days before the operation of the mutual aid platform with the largest number of participants in China, Mutual Treasure, which once had over 100 million users, will cease operations on January 28.

　　According to the statistics of "Securities Daily" reporters, since 2021, online mutual aid platforms under Internet giants have announced their closure, including Baidu Lighting Mutual Aid, Xiaomi Mutual Aid, Meituan Mutual Aid, 360 Mutual Aid, etc. These mutual aid platforms have exceeded 110 million after the shutdown. Users will face "naked insurance".

　　Why do online mutual aid platforms fall one after another?

In the eyes of insurance companies, the main reason is that its business model has fallen into a bottleneck. With the participation of a large number of elderly and sick users, the risk of adverse selection of the platform has greatly increased, and the average cost of users has increased significantly, and consumers have chosen to leave.

From the perspective of external factors, with the strengthening of regulatory constraints and the superimposition of the impact of online sales insurance such as Huimin Insurance, the difficulty of draining online mutual aid has increased, which has accelerated the closure of online mutual aid platforms.

　　The insurance industry is more concerned about what will happen to the huge number of users after a large number of online mutual aids are shut down?

At present, after announcing the closure of multiple platforms, users are advised to purchase critical illness insurance products with similar protection types.

In terms of trends, Xu Yuchen, a founding member of the China Association of Actuaries and a senior actuary who has worked for many insurance companies, told the Securities Daily reporter that online mutual assistance has cultivated netizens' insurance awareness. Will buy online medical insurance or critical illness insurance products.

　　Network mutual aid mode ended

　　The network mutual aid model has been developing for more than ten years.

　　In 2011, Kangai Commune was established, and the network mutual aid model emerged. Since then, Shuidi Mutual Aid and Easy Mutual Aid were established.

At the end of 2018, Ant Group launched Mutual Treasure, which attracted more than 100 million users in a short period of time, arousing great market attention.

　　In 2019, Lighting Mutual Aid (under Baidu), Meituan Mutual Aid (under Meituan), JD Mutual Insurance (under JD.com), Xiaomi Mutual Aid (under Xiaomi), DiDi Mutual Aid (under Didi), 360 Mutual Aid (under 360), etc. The home network mutual assistance platform entered the field of network mutual assistance, seized the market, and pushed the popularity of network mutual assistance to a climax.

　　Internet giants have stepped into this market one after another, mainly due to its high growth and "drainage effect".

　　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.

In 2020, the "Internet Mutual Aid Industry White Paper" released by the Ant Group Research Institute 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.

　　徐昱琛也对记者表示，均摊费用持续上涨等原因，让网络互助失去了优势。同时，网络互助可以单方面更改规则，容易引发纠纷，而保险合同一旦签订则没有这类问题。

　　网络互助关停后也出现了诸多问题。北京大学经济学院副院长、风险管理与保险学系教授锁凌燕表示，多家互助平台关停后，暴露出的“互助金”退费问题、用户权益保障问题、账户余额使用问题和用户信息维护问题等引发了诸多争议。

　　消费者需求依然存在

　　内外部诸多因素，让网络互助走向了末路，但在业内人士看来，网络互助也有一些借鉴意义。一方面，网络互助让一大批参与人获得了实实在在的保障。以相互宝为例，自2018年底上线以来，共救助了17.9万名患病成员。另一方面，它提高了公众对大病保障的认知，间接进行了“保险意识教育”。

　　波士顿咨询(上海)有限公司保险业务团队认为，一方面，网络互助提高了公众的风险保障意识，并为后期真正的保障型保险产品的推广和销售打开了大门；另一方面，大量的会员数据也为新产品的开发打下了坚实的数据基础。

　　值得关注的是，头部网络互助平台关停后，大量用户的保障需求并没有消失，随着用户风险意识的不断提高，这一需求或将更加强烈。从各大平台关闭后给出的替代方案来看，多家网络互助关停后，建议用户购买保险公司的重疾险或意外险，以弥补保障不足的问题。徐昱琛告诉记者，网络互助关停后，大量用户或将购买网销医疗险或重疾险产品，这利好互联网保险业的发展。从机构的角度来看，陶圣禹认为，网络互助的落幕，将使得具有多元渠道优势的传统险企逐步展现竞争力。(证券日报)