Grab Acquires Majority Stake Of Atome

Grab Holdings Ltd agreed to buy a majority stake in Singapore-based buy-now-pay-later platform Atome Financial for US$1.49 billion (RM6.1 billion), staking a major bet on financial services as it builds out a new pillar of growth.

The ride-hailing and delivery firm is acquiring 60% of Atome as part of a deal with its parent Advance Intelligence Group and certain other parties. The purchase will give Grab a stronger foothold in the consumer lending business in Southeast Asia, helping it expand beyond its app ecosystem to spur growth and gain new customers. Grab now expects to grow its loan book to over US$6 billion by 2028, including Atome, compared with a previous target of more than US$3 billion by the end of this year.

Grab is trying to revive triple-digit growth that fell by the wayside years ago after fierce competition cut into its market share. The Uber Technologies Inc-backed company has rolled out new features to tempt users in countries with challenging economic conditions, like AI-powered tools and functions that allow customers to split rides with friends.

Shares of Grab have declined almost 40% in 2026, giving the company a market value of US$12.3 billion.

This year, Grab purchased Stash Financial Inc in the US at an enterprise value of US$425 million, as well as meal-delivery firm Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations from Delivery Hero SE for US$600 million.

Atome, which stands for “Available to me,” offers consumers flexible payment solutions at online and offline retailers in fashion, beauty, lifestyle, travel, fitness and homeware, according to its website. Its revenue in 2025 surged 80% to US$470 million, helping the company achieve its second-straight annual profit before taxes.

Indonesia Credit Insurance Under Stress

Indonesia's general insurance industry is facing mounting pressure in its credit insurance business as claim costs outpace premium growth and higher interest rates threaten to worsen loan quality, raising concerns about profitability and risk exposure across the sector.

The credit insurance loss ratio climbed above 100% again in the first quarter of 2026, signaling that insurers paid out more in claims than they collected in premiums, according to data from the Indonesian General Insurance Association (AAUI).

The association reported a claim ratio of 102% during the January-March period. Credit insurance claims rose 17% from a year earlier to Rp 4.2 trillion ($236 million), while premium income increased only 3.2% to Rp 4.1 trillion.

The deterioration comes despite Indonesia's relatively strong economic growth, suggesting that gains in the broader economy have yet to fully translate into stronger business conditions and household purchasing power.

The worsening claims trend coincides with signs of weakening credit quality in Indonesia's financial sector.

Data from the Financial Services Authority showed gross non-performing loans in the banking sector increased to 2.14% in March 2026 from 2.05% at the end of 2025. Loan-at-risk ratios also rose to 8.94% from 8.77%.

The financing industry experienced similar pressure. Gross non-performing financing climbed to 2.83% from 2.51%, while net non-performing financing edged up to 0.8% from 0.77%.

Rising claims ratio serves as a warning signal for the industry, adding that insurers may become more selective in underwriting credit insurance if current trends continue. Insurance companies are not only collecting premiums, but they also face rising reserve requirements as claims increase. This ultimately puts pressure on industry profitability.

The implementation of PSAK 117, Indonesia's latest insurance accounting standard, is also expected to encourage insurers to focus on business lines with healthier and more measurable risks. This latest accounting framework requires insurers to hold larger reserves for riskier businesses, making credit insurance portfolios with high claim rates less attractive.

Higher interest rates are adding another layer of concern. Bank Indonesia's tighter monetary policy and elevated benchmark interest rates could weaken borrowers' repayment capacity, particularly among companies experiencing limited growth.

Although not all bank loans are covered by insurance, deteriorating credit quality across the financial system could still lead to higher insurance claims.

Bank Indonesia has raised its benchmark BI Rate to 5.75%, bringing cumulative rate hikes to 100 basis points over the past month.

At the same time, the government is reportedly encouraging the consolidation of credit insurance and guarantee portfolios among several state-owned enterprises under Danantara Indonesia, the country's sovereign wealth fund. The initiative aims to centralize risk management within institutions specializing in credit guarantees, including state-owned guarantor Jamkrindo.

Under the proposed structure, general insurers would increasingly focus on traditional insurance lines, while credit guarantee businesses would be handled by specialized institutions.

Indonesia Introduces Deductibles On Medical Insurance

Indonesia's Life Insurance industry has backed new health insurance rules covering co-payments, deductibles, premium reviews and insurers’ medical and digital capabilities.

The Indonesian Life Insurance Association, or AAJI, said it supports the implementation of Financial Services Authority Regulation No. 36 of 2025, which is intended to strengthen the country’s health insurance system amid rising medical inflation, higher healthcare use and increasing premiums.

Under the rules, policyholders must pay 5% of each claim, capped at $16.9 (Rp300,000) for outpatient treatment and $169.1 (Rp3m) for inpatient treatment.

Deductibles will also be applied annually rather than to each individual event.

Insurers may review or reprice premiums no more than once a year, while waiting periods must not exceed six months. Companies must also strengthen their medical expertise, medical advisory boards and information systems.

AAJI said the changes are intended to help control healthcare costs and support premium stability rather than reduce policy benefits.

The association is also encouraging closer coordination between private insurers, Indonesia’s national health insurer BPJS Kesehatan and other healthcare funding providers.

Recapitalization Chinese Insurers

Beijing's plan to inject capital into big state-owned insurers is expected to ease capital constraints and solvency pressures that ‌have held back insurers from investing more long-term funds into the stock market.

Five state-owned insurers and three banks would raise up to a combined 360 billion yuan ($53.6 billion) through capital injections from the Ministry of Finance and other shareholders.
The finance ministry said it would issue 300 billion yuan in special bonds to fund the injections. 

It would mark the first time China has used special bonds to support insurers, extending a financing tool ​previously reserved for state-owned banks.

The recapitalization could help bolster state insurers that were directed to support the stock market with ⁠medium- and long-term funds, while positioning them to help regulators manage smaller, higher-risk insurance companies.

The share of assets invested in equities was only 21% at the end of 2025 based on five major listed mainland insurers. Beijing had asked insurers to invest 30% of new premiums into stocks from ​the beginning of last year.

Analysts said in a note that in the short term, the fresh capital would ease pressure on solvency ratios, particularly core solvency, that were negatively affected by a decline in government ​bond yields used to value liabilities. Over the medium term, it removes a constraint on insurers boosting long-term equity investments, and longer term it strengthens the ​capital base of state-owned insurers.

The state funds for insurers arrived sooner than anticipated. The finance ministry said in March it would issue special bonds to recapitalise banks, and many in the market had expected capital support for insurance groups would not materialise until 2027.

Five state insurers will receive a combined 70 billion yuan in capital from the ministry. China Life Insurance (Group) Co will receive 35 billion yuan and China Taiping Insurance Group 7 billion yuan, while PICC ​Group plans to raise up to ​15 billion yuan through a private ⁠A-share placement to the finance ministry.

The 60 billion yuan going to the four commercial insurance groups among the five – excluding policy insurer China Export & Credit Insurance Corp – is expected to support roughly 100 billion yuan of additional equity exposure.

The injections mirror a parallel policy push in the banking system, where officials are leaning on larger banks to absorb smaller, higher-risk ⁠peers to ​consolidate the industry. The scale of the state insurers' recapitalization is significantly smaller than ​the 200 billion yuan the market had expected earlier

Electric Vehicle Fire & Houseowner And Fire Insurance Policy

The General Insurance Association of Malaysia (PIAM) has released a statement to clarify insurance coverage for electric vehicle (EV) owners and property owners. This comes after an EV being charged was believed to have caused a fire that gutted a two-storey terrace house in Cheras. 

Core Guidance & Policy Clarifications

• Standard Fire & Houseowner Coverage: Standard Houseowner and Fire insurance policies in Malaysia cover specified perils, including fire damage, regardless of the ignition source, subject to the policy terms, conditions and exclusions, and provided there is no fraud, deliberate act or other applicable breach of policy conditions.
• EV Chargers as Property Fixtures: Permanently installed (hard-wired) EV chargers may be categorised under the “buildings” section of a home policy as fixtures and fittings. Unattached or portable charging cables typically fall under specialised EV motor insurance policies or add-on packages offered by insurers.
• Significance of Professional Installation: Insurers require homeowners to take reasonable precautions and maintain electrical safety standards. In assessing claims, insurers will evaluate official investigation reports such as those from Jabatan Bomba dan Penyelamat Malaysia to rule out deliberate acts such as arson, fraud, or non-compliance with statutory regulations (e.g. illegal, uncertified electrical modifications/installations).
• Duty of Disclosure: Homeowners are strongly advised to notify their insurers upon installing a permanent EV charger. Declaring electrical upgrades ensures the property’s Sum Insured reflects current rebuilding costs and helps provide clarity on the policy’s coverage during the claims process.

Key Insurance Recommendations for EV Owners

• Maintain Adequate Sum Insured: To avoid underinsurance, property owners should verify that their policy Sum Insured reflects updated rebuilding costs, accounting for home modifications and modern fixtures. Homeowners can estimate rebuilding costs using PIAM’s complimentary Building Cost Calculator.
• Evaluate Third-Party Liability: Given the potential for fire or electrical incidents to spread to adjacent properties, particularly in terrace homes or high-rise residences; homeowners should evaluate their public liability limits. While standard Houseowner policies generally provide a limit of RM50,000, policyholders can purchase optional extensions to increase this liability limit.
• Review Dual Policies: EV owners should review both their motor and home insurance policies to address potential gaps in coverage, ensuring comprehensive protection for the vehicle, charging equipment, and residential structure.

Homeowners and EV owners with questions regarding policy terms or specific add-on options are encouraged to contact any of PIAM’s 19 member general insurance companies. If you’re planning the switch to EVs, go through the checklist above and make sure that your home charger is installed by a professional – safety first.

Indonesia Emerging Financial Conglomerate

Insurance brokers placing risk into Indonesia are watching a market where the number of independently owned insurers is shrinking, and a newly approved deal by South Korea's KB Financial Group shows exactly how that reshaping works in practice.

Regulators have cleared KB Financial to fold six Indonesian units, including KB Insurance Indonesia, under a single local holding company, making it one of the first visible tests of a rule that will touch every large financial group operating in the country.

The requirement traces back to Law No. 4 of 2023, Indonesia's P2SK Law, and its implementing rule, OJK Regulation No. 30 of 2024. Together they require any large financial conglomerate to appoint a Financial Conglomerate Holding Company, or PIKK, to sit above its regulated units.

The threshold -is specific enough that brokers can use it to assess which counterparties are affected. A group triggers the mandate once it holds at least Rp100 trillion (US$5.7 billion) in assets and operates two or more regulated entities across two or more financial sectors, or between Rp20 trillion (US$1.14 billion) and Rp100 trillion (US$5.7 billion) in assets with three or more entities across three or more sectors.

Once OJK approves a group's restructuring plan, that group has one year to complete it - the same clock now running for KB Financial, whose deadline falls in August 2027.

For a broker, the practical read is this: any Indonesian insurer sitting inside a larger banking or financial group is likely to see its ownership structure formalized under this rule over the next two years, whether or not the insurer itself changes hands.

What changes for the counterparty, what doesn't
KB Financial's application cleared OJK on the 5th, with industry sources reporting the decision on the 18th, after an earlier version was rejected late last year and resubmitted in March.

Rather than build a new PIKK, the group is converting an existing IT subsidiary, KB Data Systems Indonesia, into the holding company. KB Data Systems currently holds a 95.1% stake in the Indonesian unit and will transfer nearly all of it to Kookmin Bank, retaining only a token share.

Six affiliate stakes then move under that structure: Kookmin Bank's holding in KB Bank Indonesia, KB Securities' stake in KB Valbury Sekuritas, KB Insurance's position in KB Insurance Indonesia, KB Kookmin Card's holding in KB Finansia Multi Finance, KB Capital's stake in Sunindo Kookmin Best Finance, and KB Asset Management's position in KB Valbury Asset Management.

For brokers assessing security, KB Insurance Indonesia's rating position is unchanged by any of this. AM Best affirmed the unit's Financial Strength Rating of B++ (Good) and Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of "bbb+" (Good) last August, citing a five-year return-on-equity ratio of 4.7% and a combined ratio of 98.8%.

The insurer remains a joint venture between KB Insurance Co., Ltd., holding 70%, and PT AB Sinar Mas Multifinance, holding the remaining 30%, and that joint-venture ownership sits outside the scope of the parent-level restructuring altogether.

The more relevant question for distribution is whether a unified holding structure lets a bank-owned insurer push business through its own banking channel more easily. It doesn't, automatically.

Under OJK Regulation No. 8 of 2024, any bancassurance arrangement between an insurer and a bank still requires prior OJK approval and a separate written agreement, regardless of common ownership above them. Common ownership does not, on its own, grant a shortcut around that approval step.

A pattern, not a one-off
KB Financial is not the only Korean group consolidating its Indonesian position under this pressure. In January this year, Hanwha General Insurance took a controlling 61.5% stake in PT Lippo General Insurance Tbk, absorbing a 46.6% holding previously owned by an affiliated Hanwha entity and making Lippo General a consolidated subsidiary.

The deal came as the wider Hanwha group increased its activity in insurance and financial services across the region, part of a broader pattern of Korean insurers entering ASEAN markets to diversify earnings outside their home base.

The PIKK rule sits alongside other structural changes that are narrowing the field of independent insurers a broker can place business with.

Under OJK Regulation No. 11 of 2023, insurers must spin off takaful business lines into separate entities, and OJK is phasing in higher minimum paid-in capital requirements, with conventional insurers required to hold Rp250 billion (US$14.25 million) by 2026, rising to Rp500 billion (US$28.5 million) for smaller entities and Rp1 trillion (US$57 million) for larger ones by 2028.

Industry observers have said some insurers may struggle to meet those thresholds, a factor expected to drive further consolidation.

Banking side still carries the larger balance sheet story
KB Bank, the group's Indonesian banking unit, has built its corporate finance business through the current year, extending its client base from Korean firms operating locally to large Indonesian corporates and small and mid-sized businesses.

It has taken part in arranging syndicated loans for major local companies, including state-owned petrochemical firm PON, since the start of the first half of this year.

On a Kookmin Bank consolidated basis, KB Bank recorded a net loss attributable to controlling shareholders of 2.945 billion won for the first half of 2026, against a loss of 53.83 billion won a year earlier.

The bank has continued a restructuring process, including the disposal of non-performing assets, since Kookmin Bank became its largest shareholder in 2020, and posted its first annual profit under Indonesian accounting standards last year.

Brokers with Indonesian placements would do well to track how "synergy" is defined in practice once the structure is finalized, given that distribution approval remains a separate regulatory step from ownership consolidation.

Oona Insurance - Digital General Insurer

Oona Insurance, one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing digital general insurers, plans to accelerate its regional expansion and actively pursuing acquisitions across Southeast Asia after delivering strong first-half 2026 growth that significantly outpaced its core markets.

Less than four years after entering Indonesia and the Philippines, Oona has established itself as one of the region’s fastest-growing insurers.

In Indonesia, where the general insurance market contracted by approximately 2% in H1 2026, Oona grew its Gross Written Premium (GWP) by 40%. The company maintained its position among Indonesia’s top 10 motor insurers by GWP while climbing nine places to 23rd in the country’s overall non-life insurance rankings.

In the Philippines, where the non-life insurance industry has historically expanded by around 10–15% annually, Oona delivered 80% GWP growth in the first half of 2026. Broad-based expansion across its multi-channel distribution model helped propel the company into the country’s top 10 non-life insurers by net written premiums.

While premium growth remained strong, Oona’s profitability improved even faster, signalling that the insurer’s expansion strategy is translating into stronger earnings.

Oona Indonesia’s net income grew 55% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, while Oona Philippines recorded 200% growth, demonstrating that strong premium growth has been matched by disciplined underwriting and improving operating leverage. The Group maintained a combined ratio (COR) of 96% across both markets, remaining below the 100% threshold for underwriting profitability — a benchmark achieved by relatively few insurers in the region.

Oona’s growth is being supported by Southeast Asia’s structurally underpenetrated insurance markets. Insurance penetration in both Indonesia and the Philippines remains below 2% of GDP — among the lowest in Asia, leaving substantial room for long-term growth as consumers increasingly adopt digital financial services.

To accelerate its next phase of growth, the company is actively evaluating acquisition opportunities across Southeast Asia. Indonesia and the Philippines remain immediate priorities, while Thailand and Vietnam represent the next phase of its regional expansion strategy.

Oona has built its technology and product architecture to integrate directly into the platforms customers already use—from e-wallets and ride-hailing apps to banks and travel platforms. Rather than asking customers to buy insurance separately, the company enables protection to be embedded naturally into existing digital journeys. For partners, this means faster integration and access to a broader range of insurance products. For customers, it means buying insurance becomes a seamless part of an everyday transaction.