ABN AMRO distribute Aviva life products

Mumbai: Aviva, the brand name of Dabur CGU Life Insurance Company, will start retail sales this week through a tie-up with ABN AMRO Bank, says Aviva Life Insurance CEO Stuart Purdy.

"The model of distribution is the first of its kind in India and provides the best service to the customer who has been banking with ABN AMRO. In the next five years, we expect bancassurance to constitute 50 per cent of our business", says Purdy.

Aviva has also signed a memoranda of understanding with Canara Bank and Lakshmi Vilas Bank, but will start selling through them only after certain amendments pertaining to bancassurance are carried out according to the insurance laws.

Aviva associate director (bancassurance and business partnerships) Rajesh Relan, says another couple of tie-ups with a domestic bank and a foreign bank are in the pipeline and they will be done by the end of this month. "The idea is to tie up with niche player banks that are already dominant in certain areas."

ABN AMRO Bank executive vice-president and country representative (India) Romesh Sobti says: "With Aviva's insurance product, ABN is closer to its goal of becoming a universal consumer bank. Ours is already a universal corporate bank that offers an entire range of products. After the acquisition of Bank of America's business, we are trying to become a full-suite commercial bank."