The financial sector is rapidly increasing in the mobile phone insurance market, which is estimated to be worth 1 trillion won per year. The cumulative subscribers to Kakao Pay Insurance surged 1,148% in two years. Telecom companies are drawing the line, saying, “The customer base is different,” but the financial sector’s offensive is getting stronger.
Kakao Pay Insurance's mobile phone insurance information page. / Kakao Pay Insurance homepage compilation
According to the insurance industry on Thursday, the total mobile phone insurance market is estimated to exceed 1 trillion won (approx. Among them, non-telecom products such as the financial sector are growing thanks to relatively cheap insurance premiums and marketing.
Kakao Pay Insurance did not disclose specific subscriber trends, but the cumulative number of mobile phone insurance subscribers increased 1148% as of March 2026 compared to March 2024. By year, it has increased 371% between 2024 and 2025 and 165% between 2025 and 2026, maintaining a growth rate of more than three digits every year.
Kakao Pay Insurance is aggressively marketing its products worth 100 won per month for additional power. When you sign up from April 28 to May 31, you only need to pay 100 won for the first month of insurance. Recently, the mobile phone insurance compensation limit has been expanded to up to 5 million won to strengthen its competitiveness in coverage.
Shinhan Card, KB Kookmin Card, Hana Card, Woori Card, and Lotte Card are also targeting the mobile phone insurance market with low-priced products worth 990 won per month for insurance. However, many consumers subscribe to Kakao Pay insurance products as there are many products that compensate up to 100,000 won for damage and sinking repair of mobile phones.
On the other hand, SK Telecom, KT, and LG U+ operate mobile phone insurance products ranging from 2,000 won per month to 14,000 won per month. The more foldable and expensive the terminal, the higher the monthly insurance premium is, which is somewhat more expensive than the financial products.
However, carriers believe that financial products that must directly attract customers are different from their own products, which sign contracts with customers with agreements. It also analyzes that some of its customers may be able to move on to financial products, but the scale is insignificant.
“In the case of the financial sector, it is an insurance that is a ‘business-to-consumer transaction (B2C)’ type that directly recruits customers,” an industry official said. “The fact that telecommunication companies receive insurance premiums directly from customers is a kind of business-to-business transaction (B2B) from the perspective of the financial sector, and there is no impact of financial products on telecommunication companies.”
“Customers of mobile carriers usually sign up for mobile phone insurance after signing contracts at mobile phone distribution stores. The cost of mobile phone insurance is also relatively small compared to the phone bill, so there are few factors to change the product,” another source said. “Most of all, we don't pay much attention as it is different from non-telecomers who directly recruit customers.”
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