These are the highlights for events and updates across the insurance industry this week.
Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Thailand Branch (MSITB) and MSIG Insurance (Thailand) Public Company Limited (MSIG Thailand) have signed a memorandum of understanding with Bank of China (Thai) Public Company Limited (BOC Thai) and China Pacific Insurance (CPIC), to form a strategic bancassurance alliance in Thailand.
2024 marked the first full operational year since the implementation of the 'approval-compliance' policy in bancassurance channels. Amid additional pressures such as declining interest rates, new premium volumes in bancassurance saw a sharp contraction. Industry data shows that full-year new bancassurance premiums totalled approximately CNY730bn ($102.2bn), down 21% year-on-year.
Solidarity First Insurance (Solidarity) has signed a cooperation agreement with Islamic International Arab Bank (IIAB) to issue insurance policies through online channels and through the bank's branches across Jordan.
Takaful Oman Insurance and Oman Arab Bank have officially signed a strategic partnership, setting the stage for seamless financial and insurance solutions, according to an announcement by the bank on its X account.
FWD Hong Kong has finalised a long-term bancassurance agreement with Bank SinoPac. This move is being viewed as a strategic one to broaden its market presence among high-net-worth individuals and commercial clients.
Prudential Singapore and Standard Chartered are celebrating 25 years of partnership, the longest-standing bancassurance partnership on record in Singapore and Asia by launching an empowerment programme for the next generation by imparting knowledge on money management and financial responsibility.
Any steps taken by the IRDAI to limit the business share of life insurance companies from the parent bank channel or bancassurance channel will be misdirected and stifle the growth of the sector, while not addressing the actual underlying problem of rampant mis-selling, said an Emkay Research report.
The bancassurance sector in Kenya has achieved an overall service compliance score of 79%, driven primarily by agents' customer service excellence (97%) and satisfactory product knowledge (78%), according to the findings of a study released by the Association of Kenya Insurers (AKI).
Gross written premiums generated from bancassurance grew to KES35bn ($270m) in 2023 from KES19.5bn in 2019, climbing by 79.4%, according to the findings of a study released by the Association of Kenya Insurers (AKI).