Muang Thai Group Holding (MTGH) has injected 200 million baht into its subsidiary Muang Thai Broker (MTB) to expand its presence in the growing online insurance market, says Sara Lamsam, MTL's president and chief executive.
The injection has increased MTB's total registered capital to 324 million baht.
MTB is the only MTGH subsidiary authorised by the Office of the Insurance Commission to sell both life and non-life insurance products.
In 2018, MTB launched Gettgo, a price comparison and online sales platform, in response to the increasing role of smartphones and fintech in the insurance industry.
Advanced mobile technologies have changed the behaviour of insurance customers.
"The insurance brokerage business has been growing quite well over the past few years, especially sales through online distribution channels spurred by new lifestyles," said Tanat Jakrawatana, MTB's managing director.
Mr Tanat said providing clear-cut information on insurance products is necessary as customers are always searching for more information to compare products before making a purchase decision.
To enhance the customer experience, MTB plans to spend the capital injection on improving the company's distribution platform and developing omni-channels that will help customers gather information and easily make comparisons between complex insurance products.
In 2020, MTB reported 110 million baht in total premiums sold.
The company aims to reach 1 billion baht in premiums sold in three years, Mr Tanat said.
He said to achieve the 1-billion-baht goal, MTB wants to implement three strategies: launching a new product and insurance online platform; adding insurer partners for both life and non-life products; and using aggregate data to design a product that fits customer profiles.
Customers can create their profiles on MTB's website and find the right health insurance products for their unique needs, said Mr Tanat.
MTGH also invested in AIgen, an IT company specialising in artificial intelligence and machine development, through Fuchsia Venture Capital, its corporate venture capital arm, to enhance the company's potential for insurtech, health tech and food tech startups.