Ping An's Auto Service App Ranked Top in China with Over 100 Million Users, COVID-19 Spurs Demand for Online Auto Service

HONG KONG and SHANGHAI, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (hereafter "Ping An" or the "Group", HKEx:2318; SSE:601318) announced today that the "Ping An Auto Owner" app has surpassed 100 million registered users. The app, launched by Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance Company of China, Ltd. (Ping An Property & Casualty) in 2014, has 25 million monthly active users, and is currently the top-ranked auto service app in China^[1]. About half of the users of the app are existing auto insurance customers of Ping An Property & Casualty.

The "Ping An Auto Owner" app uses Ping An's leading artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing and big data technology in a platform to connect car owners to car dealers and other automotive service providers.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in January 2020, the app has provided services to 12.3 million users, with online self-service insurance claims accounting for 40% of the services.

To cater to car owners' need for social distancing during the COVID-19 outbreak, the app launched on-demand services for maintenance, car sterilization services, refueling, annual vehicle inspection services and traffic citation enquiries in February 2020. For example, for vehicles less than six years old, car owners can place an order via the app and the vehicle annual inspection label will be mailed to their home free of charge within three working days. For vehicles over six years old, a representative will collect the vehicle and return it after the inspection, with a free car sterilization service included.

For insurance services and claims, Ping An Property & Casualty uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to automate tasks, such as insurance quotations, data entry and policy issues. This technology is widely applied to over 10 business scenarios, including the identification of driving license, vehicle license, new vehicle certificate and invoice. Using auto insurance as an example, once the car owner uploaded the license photo to the "Ping An Auto Owner" app, the OCR smart document recognition system can recognize the license photo and determine insurance eligibility based on the license information. The entire process is as fast as 60 seconds from quotation to policy issuance.

The one-click insurance renewal function on the app supports a seamless process from insurance quotation, to application, e-signature, payment and e-policy viewing. Ping An Property & Casualty also uses proprietary cutting-edge AI-powered image-based loss assessment and precise customer profiling technologies. It provided nearly 90% of claimants with end-to-end online support for claim settlement and inquiry services. The one-click-to-claim function on the app has simplified the whole process of auto insurance claim settlement through smart processes, such as investigation, loss assessment and claiming. With the app's smart services, a car owner can depart the accident scene quickly and complete the process of reporting-to-claiming within two minutes.

Mr. Gu Qingshan, Assistant to General Manager and CTO of Ping An Property & Casualty said, "Ping An Property & Casualty will continue to increase investment in technological R&D and innovation, and widely apply big data and AI technologies to our customer services and business operations. This will enable us to implement online, data-driven and smart operations to drive highly targeted sales, claims and services with a customer-centric approach. Technology has facilitated the reconstruction of Ping An Property & Casualty's business processes comprehensively, the 'Ping An Auto Owner' app is able to provide contact-free services, 'Superfast Onsite Investigation', 'Smart Quick Claim' and other services that were previously unavailable, to help safeguard the health and safety of car owners amidst the current epidemic."