Japanese insurer Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance will start selling insurance to its customers through the metaverse.
Beginning this month, the insurer’s sales staff and customers can communicate via their virtual avatars on the Virtual Akiba World platform, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. The platform was launched by East Japan Railway Co. and other firms in March. It is modelled after Tokyo’s Akihabara district, which is well known for its electronics retail stores and Japanese pop culture.
Tokio Marine & Nichido will be the first insurer in the market to sell insurance via the metaverse, the report said. The insurer’s entire product catalogue on its website, which includes car, fire, and golf insurance, will be available in the metaverse.
Unlike website-based insurance applications, customers using the metaverse can communicate directly with staff during the sales process, allowing the insurer’s personnel to explain the insurance policies to the customers. This combines the benefits of both online and face-to-face distribution channels.
The metaverse generated ¥74.4 billion (around SG$750 million) in the 2021 financial year, according to data from Yano Research Institute, which also predicted that this figure will exceed ¥1 trillion in 2026.
According to the report, other financial institutions, including Japan’s largest lender MUFG Bank, are looking to harness the metaverse to provide over-the-counter services to their customers.
