Birla Sun Life Insurance to sign up 4 more bancassurance deals
By Venkatachari Jagannathan | 10 Nov 2003
Chennai:
Birla Sun Life Insurance Company, a Mumbai-based life
insurer and a domestic pioneer in selling policies through
the banking network, is planning to sew up four more bancassurance
deals by this fiscal end. On the anvil are two more relationships,
while it concluded its 10th bancassurance deal with Karur
Vysya Bank.
Says Birla Sun Life CEO Nani Javeri: "We recognised the importance of bancassurance very early. Our bancassurance initiative is designed to maximise the customer contact points that are enabled by the banks distribution strength." Currently present in 45 cities, Birla Sun Life hopes to be present in 100 cities by this fiscal end.
Adds P Nandagopal, senior vice president (alternate channels): "Our target is to earn Rs 75 crore premium through bancassurance deals. Nearly 50 per cent of our business is from alternate channels." The insurer has signed up agreements with government, and private and foreign banks in addition to having 8,000-strong agency force.
Speaking
about the business from individual agents and banks, Javeri
says: "The average policy size is Rs 3 lakh and the
average premium per policy from the banking channel is
Rs 27,000 and in the case of policies brought in by individual
agents it is Rs 15, 500."
