Om Kotak Mahindra, Dena Bank in exclusive bancassurance alliance

Anjali Malhotra
27 February 2003

Mumbai: Dena Bank and Om Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Company (OMKM) has announced a strategic alliance for bancassurance for Indian consumers. The mutually exclusive referral arrangement will make available the entire range of OMKM's life insurance products through the extensive branch network of Dena Bank.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed in Mumbai earlier by Dena Bank chairman and managing director A G Joshi and OMKM managing director Shivaji Dam.

Recording a first in the Indian insurance sector, the OMKM-Dena Bank alliance is mutually exclusive. As such, OMKM will not have any such agreement with another public sector or private sector bank, with the exception of Kotak Bank, which is their group company. Similarly, Dena Bank will not have a similar agreement with any other life insurance company in India.

Under the arrangement, the bank will refer its customers to OMKM for selling their life insurance and pension products, for which the bank will earn a referral fee. Participation by the bank's customers will be purely on a voluntary basis.

Says Dam: “Om Kotak will benefit substantially from Dena Bank's extensive network and customer loyalty. The exclusive nature of our agreement reflects the commitment of each partner to the alliance. OMKM's focus area is the western region and it may be noted that 60 per cent of Dena Bank's business comes from this area. We expect at least 10 per cent of our business this year to come from this alliance.“

Adds Joshi: “We are looking forward to extending the suite of services we offer our customers. We recognise that life insurance is a must for every citizen of the country and OMKM's customised products are ideal for our consumers. With respect to our focus, we believe that Dena Bank and OMKM's strengths lie in the same direction.“