Hive by Income to help roll out bite-sized insurance in Thailand
Dhipaya Insurance hopes to expand access to insurance among younger consumers
THAILAND’s second-largest non-life insurer has tapped Hive by Income, the insurance-as-a-service platform of Income Insurance, to roll out bite-sized, subscription-based protection.
Dhipaya Insurance’s offering, TipSnack, is expected to be Thailand’s first full-scale, lifestyle-embedded subscription-styled micro insurance. TipSnack is expected to launch in the first half of 2026, starting with personal accident protection. Over two years, it aims to expand to home, health and travel insurance.
Somporn Suebthawilkul, Dhipaya’s managing director, hopes TipSnack will expand access to insurance among younger consumers.
“We believe that bite-sized insurance ... will be an important first step for individuals who currently have no insurance protection. Once they experience the ease and relevance of these products, they naturally become more open to exploring broader insurance solutions. Thailand is transforming from traditional insurance to a modern, digital ecosystem.”
Income ventured into digital-first micro-insurance in 2020 with the launch of Snack, which set out to lower the entry barriers to insurance. Snack enables users to stack or accumulate micro-insurance in life, critical illness and accident policies, as well as micro investments in investment-linked plans, with premiums from as low as S$0.30 as they go about their daily activities such as dining out and commuting.
As at 2022, Snack was reported to have garnered more than 90,000 users in Singapore and was underwriting over S$385 million in sum assured across its insurance and investment offerings.
Hive was set up in 2021 to explore the embedding of insurance propositions across the region. Its capabilities include stackable insurance and parametrics, subscription and usage-based insurance, and omnichannel models (online-to-offline fulfilment). In Singapore, its partners to date include Grab (critical illness pay per trip), Lazada (embedded electronics insurance).
Income Insurance chief executive Andrew Yeo said the partnership with Dhipaya is the largest for Hive by Income so far.
“As an insurtech, Hive by Income is ready to accelerate like-minded partners’ speed to market with digital-first insurance innovations, (helping them) to capture new customer segments and revenue streams. (Our) insurtech offerings enable Income to participate in the growth potential of markets where we’re not physically present, through strategic partnerships and an asset-light model.”
Hive is also actively exploring partnerships in the region, including Japan. Yeo said: “We have received interest from potential partners beyond South-east Asia, more specifically Japan and the Middle East. Our Japan discussions show they see similarities with Singapore’s market conditions. We’re both insurance-mature markets, with a super-ageing population. Hive by Income presents a good use case that can be deployed in the market.”
In Vietnam, Hive partnered housekeeping agency JupViec and Vietnamese insurer Post & Telecommunication Joint Stock Corporation to launch JupeViet Care, a micro insurance solution targeted at domestic helpers who are often uninsured and struggle with a low variable income.
It also partnered TPBank to embed personal accident insurance in the TPBank app, which is activated when a user makes a QR code payment transfer.
Thailand has more than 55 million smartphone users, representing around 80 per cent of the population. Its digital insurance market is projected to exceed 20 billion Thai baht (S$819.3 million) by 2027. It is expected to grow by 5 to 6 per cent a year, and is currently approaching US$4.6 billion in value.
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