Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (the “FSC”) recently amended the “Directions Governing Electronic Commerce Conducted by Insurance Enterprises.” The amendments are intended to enhance the convenience of online insurance services, appropriately relax the relevant requirements, and strengthen identity verification mechanisms. Under the amended rules, the range of insurance services that non-life and life insurers may provide online will be expanded, with the regulatory approach shifting to one of “open in principle, restricted by exception.” In addition, for group insurance policies in which the insured pays the full premium, the insured will be permitted to handle online insurance services on their own.
To address the medical protection needs of the public when traveling overseas, the maximum insured amounts for certain riders attached to travel accident insurance — namely, reimbursement-type injury medical benefit riders and overseas emergency illness medical insurance riders — have also been raised. The cap linked to the main policy will be relaxed to no more than 30% of the main policy amount; for insured minors, the upper limit will be NT$1.2 million, to which the foregoing percentage restriction will not apply.
The amendments also ease certain regulatory restrictions: insurance businesses successfully tested through pilot programs may, going forward, be conducted in accordance with self-regulatory rules, and digital insurers may obtain international certification for their information security management systems and certification for their personal data management systems within one year of commencing operations. However, insurers that receive major penalties in relation to online insurance applications, information security management, or personal data protection, or whose cumulative fines reach NT$3 million or more, will remain a focus of supervisory assessment. Furthermore, to strengthen identity confirmation, insurers must carry out identity verification procedures when consumers log in to their websites, webpages, or mobile application platforms to apply for insurance.
