BANCASSURANCE

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||BANCASSURANCE||

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|| Insurance ||
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|| BANKING ||

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INTRODUCTION TO BANCASSURANCE

HISTORY

World over the idea of separation of roles between banks and other
financial activities has become redundant. Even in the United States
which was known for strict separation of banking and non- banking
activities during the Glass-Steagall Act regime broke the dividing wall.
The post Gramm-Leach-Bliley (GLB) Act, 1999 scenario, it is stated to
have indicated increased preference for banks conterminously dealing
with other non-banking financial products, including the insurance
products. In Asian countries (e.g., Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, etc.) to
the trend has been set towards financial supermarket. The financial
liberalization and financial innovations have drawn the worlds of
banking and insurance closer together, de segmenting the financial
industry and spurring competition (Knight, 2005). Therefore, banks
dealing in insurance products have increasingly become accepted norm
rather than exception.
In India, ever since espousing of financial reforms following the
recommendations of First Narasimham Committee, the contemporary
financial landscape has been reshaped. Banks, in particular, stride into
several new areas and offer innovative products, viz., merchant
banking, lease and term finance, capital market / equity market related
activities, hire purchase, real estate finance and so on. Thus, present-
day banks have become far more diversified than ever before.
Therefore, their entering into insurance business is only a natural
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corollary and is fully justified too as insurance is another financial
product required by the bank customers.
The Reserve Bank of India being the regulatory authority of
the banking system, recognizing the need for banks to diversify their
activities at the right time, permitted them to enter into insurance sector
as well. Furtherance to this line, it issued a set of detailed guidelines
setting out various ways for a bank in India to enter into insurance
sector (Annex I sketches out the guidelines). In the insurance sector, the
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), despite its
recent origin in 2000, avowed to regulate and develop the insurance
sector in India through calibrated policy initiatives. Given Indias size
as a continent it has, however, a very low insurance penetration and low
insurance density. As opposed to this, India has a well-entrenched wide
branch network of banking system which only few countries in the
world could match with. It is against this backdrop an attempt is made
in this paper to explore the bancassurance strategy which integrates
banking and insurance sector to harness the synergy and its allied
problems and prospects in the Indian context. This paper is presented in
four sections purely on pedagogic basis. Section I includes introduction,
and a snap shot of reforms in insurance sector in India, Section II
focuses on the status of insurance penetration in India, vis--vis select
countries, the concept of bancassurance as a distribution strategy and
draws attention to the international experience. Section III analyses the
scope for bancassurance in the Indian context from bankers and
insurers perspectives. Section IV dwells on different bancassurance
models, present trend of bancassurance models in India, while it also

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highlights some issues in general as well as regulatory and supervisory
related. Concluding remarks are presented in Section V.

DEFINITION

Bancassurance is defined as Selling Insurance products through

banks. The word is a combination of two words Banc and
assurance signifying that both banking and insurance products and
service are provided by one common corporate entity or by banking
company with collaboration with any particular Insurance company.
MEANING

BANCASSURANCE as term itself tells us what does it means. Its a

combination of the term Bank and Insurance. Bancassurance, i.e.,
banc + assurance, refers to banks selling the insurance products.
Bancassurance term first appeared in France in 1980, to define the sale
of insurance products through banks distribution channels (SCOR
2003). It means that insurance have started selling there product
through banks. Its a new concept to Indian market but it is very widely
used in western and developed countries. It is profitable both to Banks
and Insurance companies and has a very bright future to be the most
develop and efficient means of distribution of Insurance product in very
near future.

Insurance company can sell both life and non-life policies through
banks. The share of premium collected by banks is increasing in a

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decent manner from the time it was introduce to the Indian market. In
India Bancassurance in guide by Insurance Regulatory and
Development Authority Act (IRDA), 1999 and Reserve Bank of India.
All banks and insurance company have to meet particular requirement
to get into Bancassurance business.

It is predicted by experts that in future 90% of share of premium will

come from Bancassurance business only. Currently there are more and
more banking and Insurance Company and venturing into
Bancassurance business for better business prospect in future.

The banking business is also generating more profit by more premium

collected by them and they also receive commission like normal
insurance agent which increase there profits and better reputation for
the banks as there service base also increase and are able to provide
more service to customers and even more customer are attracted toward
bank.

It is even profitable for Insurance Company as they receive more and

more sales and higher customer base for the company. And they have
to directly deal with an organization which reduce there pressure to
deal with each customer face to face.

In all Bancassurance has proved to be boom in whole Banking and

Insurance arena.

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In concrete terms bancassurance, which is also known as Allfinanz -
describes a package of financial services that can fulfill both banking
and insurance needs at the same time.

Financial
Services

Banking Insurance

Bancassurance Bancassurance

The usage of the word picked up as banking and insurance companies

merged together and banks sought to provide insurance, in the market
which has been liberalized recently.
But it is a controversial issue as many experts feels that this ides gives
banking sector too great a control over financial market in that country.
Therefore it has also been restricted in many countries too.

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But, still which countries have permitted Bancassurance in their market
has seen a tremendous boom in that sector. The share of premium
collected by them has increased in constant and decent manner. This
success coincided with a favorable taxation for life insurance products,
as well as with the consumers' growing needs, in terms of middle and
long term savings, which is due to an inadequacy of the pension
schemes in India.
The links between bank and insurance takes place through various
ways (distribution agreements, joint ventures, creation of a company
new company) which gives rise to a complete upheaval concerning
marketing strategies and the setting up of insurance products'
distribution. More and better insurance starts coming in market.

This stream of market has just been opened very recently for the Indian
market and there is lot of development left to be done by the
government and regulatory authority. But this has proven to be a boom
for the Insurance and Banking companies together and both the
different sector of the industry has shown better result and
improvement in their own field due coming of the whole new concept
of BANCASSURANCE.

Bancassurance in its simplest form is the distribution of insurance

products through a banks distribution channels. It is the provision of
insurance and banking products and service through a common
distribution channel or through a common base.

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Banks, with their geographical spreading penetration in terms of
customers reach of all segments, have emerged as viable source for the
distribution of insurance products. It takes various forms in various
countries depending upon the demography and economic and
legislative climate of that country. This concept gained importance in
the growing global insurance industry and its search for new channels
of distribution.
However, the evolution of bancassurance as a concept and its practical
implementation in various parts of the world, have thrown up a number
of opportunities and challenges.

The concept of bancassurance was evolved in Europe. Europe leads the

world in Bancassurance market penetration of banks assurance in new
life business in Europe which ranges between 30% in United Kingdom
to nearly 70% in France. However, hardly 20% of all United States
banks were selling insurance against 70% to 90% in many Western
European countries. In Spain, Belgium, Germany and France more than
50% of all new life premiums is generated by banks assurance. In Asia,
Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong have surged ahead in
Bancassurance then that with India and China taking tentative step
forward towards it. In Middle East, only Saudi Arabia has made some
feeble attempts that even failed to really take off or make any change in
the system.

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The motives behind bancassurance also vary. For Banks, it is n means
of product diversification and source of additional fee income.
Insurance companies see bancassurance as a tool for increasing their
market penetration and premium turnover. The customer sees
bancassurance as a bonanza in terms of reduced price, high quality
products and delivery at the doorsteps.

With the liberalization of the insurance sector and competition tougher than
ever before, companies are increasingly trying to come out with better
innovations to stay that one-step ahead.

Progress has definitely been made as can be seen by the number of advanced
products flooding the market today - products with attractive premiums,
unitized products, unit-linked products and innovative riders. But a hitherto
untapped field is the one involving the distribution of these insurance
products.

Currently, insurance agents are still the main vehicles through which
insurance products are sold. But in a huge country like India, one can never
be too sure about the levels of penetration of a product. It therefore makes
sense to look at well-balanced, alternative channels of distribution.

Nationalized insurers are already well established and have an extensive reach
and presence. New players may find it expensive and time consuming to bring
up a distribution network to such standards. Yet, if they want to make the
most of India's large population base and reach out to a worthwhile number of
customers, making use of other distribution avenues becomes a must.

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Alternate channels will help to bring down the costs of distribution and thus
benefit the customers

What is bank assurance?

Bancassurance is the distribution of insurance products through a bank's

distribution channels. It is a service that can fulfill both banking and insurance
needs at the same time. Bancassurance as a concept first began in India when
the insurance industry opened up to private participation in December 1999.
There are basically four models of bancassurance:

Distribution alliance between the insurance company and the bank.

Joint venture between the two companies.
Mergers between a bank and insurer.
Bank builds or buys own insurance products.

Most of the bancassurance operations fall in the first model.

How does it help?

Every insurance company has a wants to grow quickly to reduce

painful start-up expense overruns. Banks with their huge networks and
large customer bases give insurers an opportunity to do this efficiently.
It gives the companies an opportunity to tap the rural sectors. Selling
insurance through traditional methods in these sectors falls very
expensive. A tie up with a bank with an appropriate customer base can
give an insurer a cheap access to these areas.
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 Bancassurance enables to have a huge pool of skilled professionals.
The margins of the banks in their core lending business are declining
sharply. Opportunities like Bancassurance augment their income.
Bancassurance enables to develop a sales culture within the bank. It
helps to change the traditional mindset of banking companies.

Though a relatively new concept, bancassurance has been a phenomenal

success in most of the cases. Currently banks are not just lending
organizations but are emerging as more diverse financial institutions. The
distribution of insurance products through banks has been beneficial to both
insurance and banking companies as well as the customers

Why should banks enter insurance?

There are several reasons why banks should seriously consider

Bancassurance, the most important of which is increased return on assets
(ROA). One of the best ways to increase ROA, assuming a constant asset
base, is through fee income. Banks that build fee income can cover more of
their operating expenses, and one way to build fee income is through the sale
of insurance products. Banks those effectively cross-sell financial products
can leverage their distribution and processing capabilities for profitable
operating expense ratios.

By leveraging their strengths and finding ways to overcome their weaknesses,

banks could change the face of insurance distribution. Sale of personal line
insurance products through banks meets an important set of consumer needs.
Most large retail banks engender a great deal of trust in broad segments of
consumers, which they can leverage in selling them personal line insurance
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products. In addition, a banks branch network allows the face to face contact
that is so important in the sale of personal insurance.

Another advantage banks have over traditional insurance distributors is the

lower cost per sales lead made possible by their sizable ,loyal customer base.
Banks also enjoy significant brand awareness within their geographic regions,
again providing for a lower per-lead cost when advertising through print,
radio and/or television. Banks that make the most of these advantages are able
to penetrate their customer base and markets for above-average market share.

Other bank strengths are their marketing and processing capabilities. Banks
have extensive experience in marketing to both existing customers (for
retention and cross selling) and non-customers (for acquisition and
awareness). They also have access to multiple communications channels, such
as statement inserts, direct mail, ATMs, telemarketing, etc. Banks' proficiency
in using technology has resulted in improvements in transaction processing
and customer service.

By successfully mining their customer databases, leveraging their reputation

and 'distribution systems (branch, phone, and mail) to make appointments,
and utilizing 'sales techniques and products tailored to the middle market,
European banks have more than doubled the conversion rates of insurance
leads into sales and have increased sales productivity to a ratio which is more
than enough to make Bancassurance a highly profitable proposition.

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Will bancassurance click?

Bancassurance, the much talked about channel of insurance distribution

through banks that originated in France and which has been a success story in
Europe is yet to take off here. A number of insurers have already tied up with
banks and some banks have already flagged off bancassurance through soft
launches of select risk products. While reams have been written about the
numerous benefits of bancassurance considering the wide scale availability of
risk products it will enable, rules and regulations regarding the same are yet to
fall in place.

Fee based income:

For banks, bancassurance would mean a major gain. Since interest rates have
been falling and profit on off take of credit has been low all banks have been
able to do is sustain them but not profit much. Enter bancassurance and fee
based income through hawking of risk products would be guaranteed.

Unique strategies:

Before taking the plunge, banks as also insurers need to work hard on
chalking out strategies to sell risk products through this channel especially in
an emerging market as ours. Through tie-ups some insurers plan to buy shelf
space in banks and sell insurance to those who volunteer to purchase them.
But unless banks set up a trained task force that will focus on hard-selling risk
products, making much headway is difficult especially with a financial
product that is not so easily bought over the counter.

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Identifying Target audience:

Besides, identifying the target audience is yet another important aspect. Banks
have a large depositor base of corporate as well as retail clients they can tap.
Talking of retail clients the lower end and middle-income group customers
constitute a major chunk that have over a period of time built a good rapport
with the bank staff and thus hold big potential for bancassurance.

Reduced costs:

While products such as retirement planning will involve an elaborately

worked out plan with the help of a financial advisor, simple products such as
an accident cover in other words pure risk products will be sold through this
channel enabling savings on solicitation costs of these products. So will
insurers pass on a part of the gains on cost saving (saving on agent training
etc.) to customers? At present insurers is non-committal on this one. Also
there are no immediate plans to redesign products to suit the bancassurance
channel but banks are gung-ho about cross-selling products.

Legal issues:

Conversely, the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) has

adopted a cautious approach before Bancassurance is flagged off. While on
the one hand it is an economical proposition to sell risk products through the
numerous bank branches spread across the country the fact that claim
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settlement disputes take an unusually long time in our country is one of the
causes for worry. In such a situation will banks be in a position to fight for the
cause of their clients is a major concern? Besides regulatory authorities for
both - banks and insurance companies are different. Moreover, banks may
have to part with confidential information about their clients. Now where
should banks draw a line?

Bancassurance What is in store for Customers?

The most immediate advantage for customers is that, in insurance

business the question of trust plays a greater role, especially due to the
inbuilt requirement of a long term relationship between the insurer and
the insured. In India, for decades, customers were used to the
monopolistic attitude of public sector insurance companies, despite
there were many drawbacks in their dealing, they enjoyed customer
confidence, this trend continues even now mainly due to their
Government ownership. The customers to move over to private
insurance companies that are collaborated with foreign companies
which are less known to the Indian public would take little more time.
The void between the less known newer private insurance companies
and the prospective insured could be comfortably filled by the banks
because of their well established and long cherished relationship. Under
these circumstances, any new insurance products routed through the
bancassurance channel would be well received by the customers.
Above all, in the emerging scenario, customers prefer to have a
consolidation and delivery of all financial services at a single window
in the form of financial super market, irrespective of whether
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financial or banking transactions, because such availability of wide
range of financial/ banking services and products relieves the customers
from the painstaking efforts of scouting for a separate dealer for each
service/ product. Even internationally, the trend is towards the one-
stop-shop. Customers could also get a share in the cost savings in the
form of reduced premium rate because of economies of scope, besides
getting better financial counseling at single point. Even in the case of
developed countries the financial literacy and financial counseling has
been increasingly stressed in recent years, these become essential
especially when decision involves long term investments. In India,
recently Reddy (2006) has been emphasizing on the importance and
necessity for financial counseling and financial literature. In that
context too the bankers are better placed in extending such counseling
or financial adviser to the customer because of their well-established
long cherished relationship. The relationship between insurer and
insured and bank and its client are different, the former involves taking
decisions for long term parting of money, in such cases counseling is
necessary, here too the bancassurance can be of reassuring for the
customer.

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The Legal Requirements

RBI guideline for banks entering into insurance sector provides three options
for banks. They are:

Joint ventures will be allowed for financially strong banks wishing to

undertake insurance business with risk participation ;
For banks which are not eligible for this joint-venture option, an
investment option of up to 10% of the net worth of the bank or Rs.50
crores, whichever is lower, is available;
Finally, any commercial bank will be allowed to undertake insurance
business as agent of insurance companies. This will be on a fee basis
with no-risk participation.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) guidelines for

the bancassurance are:

Each bank that sells insurance must have a chief insurance executive to
handle all the insurance activities.
All the people involved in selling should under-go mandatory training
at an institute accredited by IRDA and pass the examination conducted
by the authority.
Commercial banks, including cooperative banks and regional rural
banks, may become corporate agents for one insurance company.
Banks cannot become insurance brokers.

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 Banking on Bancassurance

Though much ado was made about bancassurance, an alternate channel to

hawk risk products through banks, the channel is yet to pick up pace as of
today. Most of the insurance companies have already tied up with banks to
explore the potential of the channel that has been a success story in Europe
and legislations are also in place. For insurance companies and banks the
convergence brings about benefits for both but then whats stopping it from
taking off in a big way?

Bancassurance primarily banks on the relationship the customer has

developed over a period of time with the bank. And pushing risk products
through banks is a cost-effective affair for an insurance company compared to
the agent route, while, for banks, considering the falling interest rates, fee
based income coming in at a minimum cost is more than welcome.

SBI Life Insurance Company a predominant player in bancassurance is

positive about the channel bringing about a transformation in the way
insurance has been sold so far. The company is ba RBI guideline for banks
entering into insurance sector provides three options for banks. They are:

Banking heavily on bancasurance and plans to explore the potential of State

Bank of Indias 9000 plus branches spread across the country and also its
4000 plus associate banks - one of the reasons why SBI Life Insurance is not
laying much emphasis on increasing its agent force from the present 3000.

The company plans to appoint Certified Insurance Facilitators (CIFs) in a

phased manner at its branches. For now around 320 CIFs, one from each of its
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bank branches have been identified for the purpose in addition to setting up
insurance counters at its banking outlets. The number is expected to go up to
500. Out of our present business of around Rs 150-200 crore bancassurance
has brought in 50 percent while corporate agency and the agent channel have
contributed about 10 percent and 40 percent respectively, says Pradeep
Pandey, Head, PR, SBI Life Insurance Company. The company aims at
acquiring 75 percent of the total business through bancassurance and the
balance through the other channels by 2007.

Various models are used by banks for bancassurance. One is the insurance
salesman of the respective company being posted in the bank, the other is
where a select group of wealth management people of the bank sell insurance
and the third is where the bank employees are incentivized to hawk insurance
products.

But the pertinent question is how far bancassurance will succeed when
insurance is a product that is sold not bought in our country. Insurance needs
hard selling but banks have never been aggressive about selling financial
products. Says Pradeep Pandey I agree that in our country insurance
awareness is low but with falling interest rates, banks are on the look out for
additional revenue and bancassurance can provide them fee based income
insurance is one outlet where income can be gained. And the cost that banks
have to incur is minimal. With the other entire infrastructure in place already,
the cost is only about training a few individuals.

And will products sold through bancassurance be any different? The

products sold will be the same. In the first phase we plan to sell endowment
and pension opines Mr. Pandey, SBI Life Insurance. On the contrary Shivaji
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Dam, CEO, OM Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance begs to differ, Yes products
will have to be different to be sold through bancassurance. They will have to
be term and savings products with not much of complications. In other words
products that is static and simple

OM Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance has tied up with Dena Bank and its own
Kotak Bank for bancassurance. The company is targeting around 10 percent
of the business during its start up phase. Adds Shivaji Dam, Our focus will
not be the affluent class but the middle class But in case of SBI Life there is
no such emphasis on a segment of the population perhaps considering the
wide reach its bank branches have even in the remotest corners of the country.
Also SBI Life plans to offer its complete basket of products but OM Kotak
will be selling select products.

Insurers are no doubt optimistic about the channel but it does come with a few
limitations. While sale of insurance comes at a lower cost through this
channel in comparison to the agency route and the insurance company gains
much through the large bank network spread across the country the potential
can be impeded if bank officials do not actively generate leads.

Also it is yet to be seen how far buying shelf space in a bank helps push sale
of insurance. Besides the target audience is limited to those individuals who
visit the bank during the working hours. And with technology changing at a
rapid pace ATMs and internet banking have been reducing the individuals
visits to the bank which could perhaps be a dampener for bancassurance.

Insurance companies are positive about the bancassurance channel raking in

volume business at a low cost and banks have been salivating over the fee-

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based income that it will bring. But unless products are simple, easy to
understand and easy to market much of the benefits the bancassurance
channel holds, may remain only on paper.

Bancassurance Models

I. Structural Classification

a) Referral Model

Banks intending not to take risk could adopt referral model wherein
they merely part with their client data base for business lead for
commission. The actual transaction with the prospective client in
referral model is done by the staff of the insurance company either at
the premise of the bank or elsewhere. Referral model is nothing but a
simple arrangement, wherein the bank, while controlling access to the
clients data base, parts with only the business leads to the agents/ sales
staff of insurance company for a referral fee or commission for every
business lead that was passed on. In fact a number of banks in India
have already resorted to this strategy to begin with. This model would
be suitable for almost all types of banks including the RRBs
/cooperative banks and even cooperative societies both in rural and
urban. There is greater scope in the medium term for this model. For,
banks to begin with resorts to this model and then move on to the other
models.

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b) Corporate Agency

The other form of non-risk participatory distribution channel is that of

corporate agency, wherein the bank staff is trained to appraise and
sell the products to the customers. Here the bank as an institution acts
as corporate agent for the insurance products for a fee/ commission.
This seems to be more viable and appropriate for most of the mid-sized
banks in India as also the rate of commission would be relatively higher
than the referral arrangement. This is prone to reputational risk of the
marketing bank. There are also practical difficulties in the form of
professional knowledge about the insurance products. Besides,
resistance from staff to handle totally new service/product could not be
ruled out. This could, however, be overcome by intensive training to
chosen staff packaged with proper incentives in the banks coupled with
selling of simple insurance products in the initial stage. This model is
best suited for majority of banks including some major urban
cooperative banks because neither there is sharing of risk nor does it
require huge investment in the form of infrastructure and yet could be a
good source of income. Bajaj Allianz stated to have established a
growth of 325 per cent during April-September 2004, mainly due to
bancassurance strategy and around 40% of its new premiums business
(Economic Times, October 8, 2004). Interestingly, even in a developed
country like US, banks stated to have preferred to focus on the
distribution channel akin to corporate agency rather than underwriting
business. Several major US banks including Wells Fargo, Wachovia

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and BB &T built a large distribution network by acquiring insurance
brokerage business. This model of bancassurance worked well in the
US, because consumers generally prefer to purchase policies through
broker banks that offer a wide range of products from competing
insurers (Sigma, 2006).
c) Insurance as Fully Integrated Financial Service/ Joint
ventures

Apart from the above two, the fully integrated financial service
involves much more comprehensive and intricate relationship between
insurer and bank, where the bank functions as fully universal in its
operation and selling of insurance products is just one more function
within. Where banks will have a counter within sell/ market the
insurance products as an internal part of its rest of the activities. This
includes banks having wholly owned insurance subsidiaries with or
without foreign participation. In Indian case, ICICI bank and HDFC
banks in private sector and State Bank of India in the public sector,
have already taken a lead in resorting to this type of bancassurance
model and have acquired sizeable share in the insurance market, also
made a big stride within a short span of time. The great advantage of
this strategy being that the bank could make use of its full potential to
reap the benefit of synergy and therefore the economies of scope. This
may be suitable to relatively larger banks with sound financials and has
better infrastructure. Internationally, the fully integrated bancassurance
have demonstrated superior performance (Krishnamurthy, 2003). Even
if the banking company forms as a subsidiary and insurance company

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being a holding company, this could be classified under this category,
so long as the bank is selling the insurance products alongside the usual
banking services. As per the extant regulation of insurance sector the
foreign insurance company could enter the Indian insurance market
only in the form of joint venture, therefore, this type of bancassurance
seems to have emerged out of necessity in India to an extent. There is
great scope for further growth both in life and non-life insurance
segments as GOI is reported have been actively considering to increase
the FDIs participation to the upto 49 per cent.

II. Product-based Classification

i) Stand-alone Insurance Products

In this case bancassurance involves marketing of the insurance products

through either referral arrangement or corporate agency without mixing
the insurance products with any of the banks own products/ services.
Insurance is sold as one more item in the menu of products offered to
the banks customer, however, the products of banks and insurance will
have their respective brands too, e.g., Karur Vysya Bank Ltd selling of
life insurance products of Birla Sun Insurance or non-life insurance
products of Bajaj Allianz General Insurance company.

ii) Blend of Insurance with Bank Products

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With the financial integration both within the country and globally,
insurance is increasingly being viewed not just as a stand-alone
product but as an important item on a menu of financial products that
helps consumers to blend and create a portfolio of financial assets,
manage their financial risks and plan for their financial security and
well-being (Olson 2004). This strategy aims at blending of insurance
products as a value addition while promoting its own products. Thus,
banks could sell the insurance products without any additional efforts.
In most times, giving insurance cover at a nominal premium/ fee or
sometimes without explicit premium does act as an added attraction to
sell the banks own products, e.g., credit card, housing loans, education
loans, etc. Many banks in India, in recent years, has been aggressively
marketing credit and debit card business, whereas the cardholders get
the insurance cover for a nominal fee or (implicitly included in the
annual fee) free from explicit charges/ premium. Similarly the home
loans / vehicle loans, etc., have also been packaged with the insurance
cover as an additional incentive.

III. Recent Trend of Bancassurance in India

Bancassurance proper is still evolving in Asia and this is still in infancy

in India and it is too early to assess the exact position. However, a
quick survey revealed that a large number of banks cutting across
public and private and including foreign banks have made use of the
bancassurance channel in one form or the other in India. Banks by and
large are resorting to either referral models or corporate agency to

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begin with. Banks even offer space in their own premises to
accommodate the insurance staff for selling the insurance products or
giving access to their clients database for the use of the insurance
companies. As number of banks in India have begun to act as
corporate agents to one or the other insurance company, it is a
common sight that banks canvassing and marketing the insurance
products across the counters. The present IRDAs regulation, however,
restricts bankers to act as a corporate agent on behalf of only one life
and non-life insurance company.

In the case of ICICI-Prudential Life Insurance company, within two

years of its operations, it could reach more than 25 major cities in India
and as much as 20 per cent of the life insurance sales are through the
bancassurance channel (Malpani 2004). In the case of ICICI bank, SBI
and HDFC bank insurance companies are subscribers of their
respective holding companies. ICICI bank sells its insurance products
practically at all its major branches, besides it has bancassurance
partnership arrangements with 19 other banks as also as many as 200
corporate tie-up arrangements. Thus, among the private insurance
companies, ICICI Prudential seems to exploit the bancassurance
potential to the maximum. ICICI stated that Bank of India has steadily
grown the life insurance segment of its business since its inception.
ICICI prudential had also reported to have entered into similar tie-ups
with a number of RRBs, to reap the potential of rural and semi-urban.
In fact, it is a step in the right direction to tap the vast potential of rural

26
and semi-urban market. It will not be surprising if other insurance
companies to follow this direction.

Aviva Insurance had reported that it has tie-ups with as many as 22

banking companies, which includes private, public sector and foreign
banks to market its products. Similarly, Birla Sun Life Insurer reported
to have tie-up arrangements with 10 leading banks in the country. A
distinct feature of the recent trend in tie-up arrangements was that a
number of cooperative banks have roped in with bancassurance
arrangement. This has added advantage for insurer as well as the
cooperative banks, such as the banks can increase the non-fund based
income without the risk participation and for the insurers the vast rural
and semi-urban market could be tapped without its own presence.
Bancassurance alone has contributed richly to as much as 45 per cent of
the premium income in individual life segment of Birla Sun Life
Insurer (Javari, 2006).

Incidentally even the public sector major LIC reported to have tie-up
with 34 banks in the country, it is likely that this could be the largest
number of banks selling single insurance companys products.
Ironically, LIC also has the distinction of being the oldest and the
largest presence of its own in the country. SBI Life Insurance for
instance, is uniquely placed as a pioneer to usher bancassurance into
India. The company has been extensively utilizing the SBI Group as a
platform for cross-selling insurance products along with its numerous
banking product packages such as housing loans, personal loans and

27
credit cards. SBI has distinct advantage of having access to over 100
million accounts and which provides it a vibrant and largest customer
base to build insurance selling across every region and economic strata
in the country. In 2004, the company reported to have become the first
company amongst private insurance players to cover 30 lakh lives.
Interestingly, in respect of new (life) business bancassurance business
channel is even greater than the size of direct business by the insurers at
2.17 per cent. Even in respect of LIC around 1.25 per cent of the new
business is through bancassurance. Considering the large base, even
this constitutes quite sizeable to begin with in the case of LIC. This
speaks for itself the rate at which the bancassurance becoming an
important channel of distribution of insurance products in India. It is
significant to note that the public sector giant LIC which has branches
all over India, too moving towards making use of bancassurance
channel

28
THE WIN WIN CONDITION FOR BANKS AND
INSURANCE COMPANIES.

Banks Insurance

Revenues and channel

Customer retention
of diversification

Satisfaction of more
Quality customer
financial need under
access.
same roof.

Revenue Establish a low cost

diversification acquisition channel.

More Profitable Creation of Brand

resources utilization. Image.

Establish sales Quicker Geographical

orientated culture. reach.

Enrich work Leverage service

environment. synergies with Bank.

29
Bancassurance in India - SWOT Analysis

Even though, banks and insurance companies in India are yet to exchange
their wedding rings, Bancassurance as a means of distribution of insurance
products is already in force in some form or the other. Banks are selling
Personal Accident and Baggage Insurance directly to their Credit Card
members as a value addition to their products. Banks also participate in the
distribution of mortgage linked insurance products like fire, motor or cattle
insurance to their customers. Banks can straightaway leverage their existing
capabilities in terms of database and face to face contact to market insurance
products to generate some income for themselves which hitherto was not
thought of.

Once Bancassurance is embraced in India with full force, a lot will be at

stake. Huge capital investment will be required to create infrastructure
particularly in IT and telecommunications, a call center will have to be
created, top professionals of both industries will have to be hired, an R & D
cell will need to be created to generate new ideas and products. It is therefore
essential to have a SWOT analysis done in the context of Bancassurance
experiment in India.

Strengths

In a country of 1 Billion people, sky is the limit for personal lines insurance
products. There is a vast untapped potential waiting to be mined particularly
for life insurance products. There are more than 900 Million lives waiting to
be given a life cover (total number of individual life policies sold in 1998-99
was just 91.73 Million). There are about 200 Million households waiting to be
30
approached for a householder's insurance policy. Millions of people travelling
in and out of India can be tapped for Overseas Mediclaim and Travel
Insurance policies. After discounting the population below poverty line the
middle market segment is the second largest in the world after China. The
insurance companies worldwide are eyeing on this, why not we preempt this
move by doing it ourselves?

Our other strength lies in a huge pool of skilled professionals whether it is

banks or insurance companies who may be easily relocated for any
Bancassurance venture. LIC and GIC both have a good range of personal line
products already lined up; therefore R & D efforts to create new products will
be minimal in the beginning. Additionally, GIC with 4200 operating offices
and LIC with 2048 branch offices are almost already omnipresent, which is so
essential for the development of any Bancassurance project.

Weaknesses

The IT culture is unfortunately missing completely in all of the future

collaborators i.e. banks, GIC & LIC. A late awakening seems to have dawned
upon but it is a case of too late and too little. Elementary IT requirement like
networking (LAN) is not in place even in the headquarters of these
institutions, when the need today is of Wide Area Network (WAN) and Vast
Area Network (VAN). Internet connection is not available even to the
managers of operating offices.

The middle class population that we are eyeing at are today overburdened,
first by inflationary pressures on their pockets and then by the tax net. Where
is the money left to think of insurance? Fortunately, LIC schemes get IT
31
exemptions but personal line products from GIC (Mediclaim already has this
benefit) like householder, travel, etc. also need to be given tax exemption to
further the cause of insurance and to increase domestic revenue for the
country.

Another drawback is the inflexibility of the products i.e. it cannot be tailor

made to the requirements of the customer. For a Bancassurance venture to
succeed it is extremely essential to have in-built flexibility so as to make the
product attractive to the customer.

Opportunities

Banks' database is enormous even though the goodwill may not be the same
as in case of their European counterparts. This database has to be dissected
variously and various homogeneous groups are to be churned out in order to
position the Bancassurance products. With a good IT infrastructure, this can
really do wonders.

Other developing economies like Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore have

already taken a leap in this direction and they are not doing badly. There is
already an atmosphere created in the country for liberalization and there
appears to be a political consensus also on the subject. Therefore, RBI or IRA
should have no hesitation in allowing the marriage of the two to take place.
This can take the form of merger or acquisition or setting up a joint venture or
creating a subsidiary by either party or just the working collaboration between
banks and insurance companies.

32
 Threats

Success of a Bancassurance venture requires change in approach, thinking

and work culture on the part of everybody involved. Our work force at every
level are so well entrenched in their classical way of working that there is a
definite threat of resistance to any change that Bancassurance may set in. Any
relocation to a new company or subsidiary or change from one work to a
different kind of work will be resented with vehemence.

Another possible threat may come from non-response from the target
customers. This happened in USA in 1980s after the enactment of Garn - St
Germaine Act. A rush of joint ventures took place between banks and
insurance companies and all these failed due to the non-response from the
target customers. US banks have now again (since late 1990s) turned their
attention to insurance mainly life insurance.

The investors in the capital may turn their face off in case the rate of return on
capital falls short of the existing rate of return on capital. Since banks and
insurance companies have major portion of their income coming from the
investments, the return from Bancassurance must at least match those returns.
Also if the unholy alliances are allowed to take place there will be fierce
competition in the market resulting in lower prices and the Bancassurance
venture may never break-even.

33
Benefits and Value proposition in Bancassurance

Advantages to Banks:

Productivity of the employees increases.

By providing customers with both the services under one roof, they can
improve overall customer satisfaction resulting in higher customer
retention levels.
Increase in return on assets by building fee income through the sale of
insurance products.
Can leverage on face-to-face contacts and awareness about the financial
conditions of customers to sell insurance products.
Banks can cross sell insurance products E.g.: Term insurance products
with loans.

Advantages to Insurers:

Insurers can exploit the banks' wide network of branches for

distribution of products. The penetration of banks' branches into the
rural areas can be utilized to sell products in those areas.
Customer database like customers' financial standing, spending habits,
investment and purchase capability can be used to customize products
and sell accordingly.
Since banks have already established relationship with customers,
conversion ratio of leads to sales is likely to be high. Further service
aspect can also be tackled easily.
34
 Advantages to Consumers:

Comprehensive financial advisory services under one roof. i.e.,

insurance services along with other financial services such as banking,
mutual funds, personal loans etc.
Enhanced convenience on the part of the insured
Easy accesses for claims, as banks are a regular go.
Innovative and better product ranges

The other benefits include

Better customer retention and stronger relationships.
Clear competitive advantage in the rural areas.
Possibility that the insurers account as well as the accounts from the
claimants will remain with the bank.
Insurance products can augment the value of the banking products and
services.
Banks are in better position to offer complete integrated financial
solutions.

Value Propositions

The services offered by the banks as well as the insurance companies, are
related to assets and risks. They have to be managed. These institutions
manage risks and assets for the customers, reducing and taking over the risks
and transforming the assets. The cores of the businesses are similar, though
35
not same. The basic values offered by banks, Insurance companies and other
financial institutions are indicated below.

Banks offer to its customers liquidity (while at the same time making long
term loans), safety, trust (managing estates on behalf of beneficiaries),
collection of interest or dividends payments of commitments (rentals and
insurance premiums for example) and annuities. Insurers primarily protect
clients from risks (political, financial, commercial, business, and human). In
life insurance, there is major component of management of an asset, which is
created by the policy. The benefits of the insurers expertise in asset
management, passes on the clients by way of premiums levels and bonuses.
The liquidity concerns of insurers are different from liquidity concerns of
banks.

Securities firm primarily provide information and advice. They also act as
brokers or agents for the customers, but not take responsibility for risks and
assets. Pension funds manage the saving made directly or through employers
and help the pensioners manage the risks of loss of income in old age. Mutual
funds are asset transformers, providing small savers easy access to complex
portfolios of capital market, without sacrificing the needs of liquidity.

Most customers, big and small, individual and companies are all interested in
all these services. That is the justification for concept of a single window for
all financial services. Bancassurance is a step in this evolution

36
 Marketing and Distribution Channels in Bancassurance

Marketing Channel

One of the most significant changes in the financial services sector over the
past few years has been the growth and development of Bancassurance.
Banking institutions and insurance companies have found Bancassurance to
be an attractive and profitable complement to their existing activities. The
successes demonstrated by various Bancassurance operations particularly in
Europe have triggered an avalanche of mergers and acquisitions across
continents and efforts are on to replicate the early success of Bancassurance
in other parts of the world as well.

Distribution is the key issue in Bancassurance and is closely linked to the

regulatory climate of the country. Over the years, a regulatory barrier between
banking and insurance has diminished and has created a climate increasingly
friendly to Bancassurance. The passage of Gramm-Leach Bliley Act of 1999
in US and IRDA Bill in India in 2000 have stimulated the growth of
Bancassurance by allowing use of multiple distribution channels by banks and
insurance companies.

Bancassurance experience in Europe as well as in other select countries offers

valuable guidance for those interested in insurance distribution through the
banking channel in developing markets. Many banks and insurers are looking
with great interest at building new revenue through Bancassurance - including
large, traditional companies that wouldn't have considered such an approach
about a decade ago. Of particular interest, many believe, is the potential for

37
Bancassurance in developing economies such as those of Latin America and
Southeast Asia.

Distribution channels in Bancassurance

Present Distribution Channels for Insurance Products in

India
Insurance industry in India for fairly a longer period relied heavily on
traditional agency (individual agents) distribution network IRDA (2004). As
the insurance sector had been completely monopolised by the public sector
organisations for decades, there was slow and rugged growth in the insurance
business due to lack of competitive pressure. Therefore, the zeal for
discovering new channels of distribution and the aggressive marketing
strategies were totally absent and to an extent it was not felt necessary. The
insurance products, by and large, have been dispensed mainly through the
following traditional major channels: (1) development officers, (2) individual
agents and (3) direct sales staff. It was only after IRDA came into existence as
the regulator, the other forms of channels, viz., corporate agents including
bancassurance, brokers (an independent agent who represents the buyer,
rather than the insurance company, and tries to find the buyer the best policy
by comparison shopping2), internet marketing and telemarketing were added
on a professional basis in line with the international practice. As the insurance
sector is poised for a rapid growth, in terms of business as well as number of
new entrants tough competition has become inevitable. Consequently,
addition of new and number of distribution channels would become
necessary.

38
Traditionally, insurance products have been promoted and sold principally
through agency systems in most countries. With new developments in
consumers behaviours, evolution of technology and deregulation, new
distribution channels have been developed successfully and rapidly in recent
years. Bancassurers make use of various distribution channels:

-Career Agents

-Special Advisers

-Salaried Agents

-Bank Employees / Platform Banking

-Corporate Agencies and Brokerage Firms

-Direct Response

-Internet

-E-Brokerage

-Outside Lead Generating Techniques

The main characteristics of each of these channels are:

Career Agents:
Career Agents are full-time commissioned sales personnel holding an agency
contract. They are generally considered to be independent contractors.
Consequently an insurance company can exercise control only over the
activities of the agent which are specified in his contract. Despite this
limitation on control, career agents with suitable training, supervision and
motivation can be highly productive and cost effective. Moreover their level
39
of customer service is usually very high due to the renewal commissions,
policy persistency bonuses, or other customer service-related awards paid to
them.

Many Bancassurers, however avoid this channel, believing that agents might
oversell out of their interest in quantity and not quality. Such problems with
career agents usually arise, not due to the nature of this channel, but rather
due to the use of improperly designed remuneration and/or incentive
packages.

Special Advisers:
Special Advisers are highly trained employees usually belonging to the
insurance partner, who distribute insurance products to the bank's corporate
clients. Banks refer complex insurance requirements to these advisors. The
Clients mostly include affluent population who require personalised and high
quality service. Usually Special advisors are paid on a salary basis and they
receive incentive compensation based on their sales.

Salaried Agents:
Having Salaried Agents has the advantages of them being fully under the
control and supervision of Bancassurers. These agents share the mission and
objectives of the Bancassurers. Salaried Agents in Bancassurance are similar
to their counterparts in traditional insurance companies and have the same
characteristics as career agents. The only difference in terms of their

40
remuneration is that they are paid on a salary basis and career agents receive
incentive compensation based on their sales. Some Bancassurers, concerned
at the bad publicity which they have received as a result of their career agents
concentrating heavily on sales at the expense of customer service, have
changed their sales forces to salaried agent status.

Platform Bankers:
Platform Bankers are bank employees who spot the leads in the banks and
gently suggest the customer to walk over and speak with appropriate
representative within the bank. The platform banker may be a teller or a
personal loan assistant and the representative being referred to may be a
trained bank employee or a representative from the partner insurance
company.

Platform Bankers can usually sell simple products. However, the time which
they can devote to insurance sales is limited, e.g. due to limited opening hours
and to the need to perform other banking duties. A further restriction on the
effectiveness of bank employees in generating insurance business is that they
have a limited target market, i.e. those customers who actually visit the
branch during the opening hours.

In many set-ups, the bank employees are assisted by the bank's financial
advisers. In both cases, the bank employee establishes the contact to the client
and usually sells the simple product whilst the more affluent clients are
attended by the financial advisers of the bank which are in a position to sell
the more complex products. The financial advisers either sell in the branch
but some banks have also established mobile sales forces.
41
If bank employees only act as "passive" insurance sales staff (or do not
actively generate leads), then the Bancassurers potential can be severely
impeded. However, if bank employees are used as "active" centres of
influence to refer warm leads to salaried agents, career agents or special
advisers, production volumes can be very high and profitable to Bancassurers.

Set-up / Acquisition of agencies or brokerage firms:

In the US, quite a number of banks cooperate with independent agencies or
brokerage firms whilst in Japan or South Korea banks have founded corporate
agencies. The advantage of such arrangements is the availability of specialists
needed for complex insurance matters and -in the case of brokerage firms -
the opportunity for the bank clients to receive offers not only from one
insurance company but from a variety of companies. In addition, these sales
channels are more conceived to serve the affluent bank client.

Direct Response:
In this channel no salesperson visits the customer to induce a sale and no
face-to-face contact between consumer and seller occurs. The consumer
purchases products directly from the Bancassurers by responding to the
company's advertisement, mailing or telephone offers. This channel can be
used for simple packaged products which can be easily understood by the
consumer without explanation.

42
 Internet:
Internet banking is already securely established as an effective and profitable
basis for conducting banking operations. The reasonable expectation is that
personal banking services will increasingly be delivered by Internet banking.
Bancassurers can also feel confident that Internet banking will also prove an
efficient vehicle for cross selling of insurance savings and protection
products. It seems likely that a growing proportion of the affluent population,
everyone's target market, will find banks with household name brands and
proven skills in e-business a very acceptable source of non-banking products.

There is now the Internet, which looms large as an effective source of

information for financial product sales. Banks are well advised to make their
new websites as interactive as possible, providing more than mere standard
bank data and current rates. Functions requiring user input (check ordering,
what-if calculations, and credit and account applications) should be
immediately added with links to the insurer. Such an arrangement can also
provide a vehicle for insurance sales, service and leads.

E-Brokerage:
Banks can open or acquire an e-Brokerage arm and sell insurance products
from multiple insurers. The changed legislative climate across the world
should help migration of Bancassurance in this direction. The advantage of
this medium is scale of operation, strong brands, easy distribution and
excellent synergy with the internet capabilities.

43
 Outside Lead Generating Techniques:
One last method for developing Bancassurance eyes involves "outside" lead
generating techniques, such as seminars, direct mail and statement inserts.
Seminars in particular can be very effective because in a non-threatening
atmosphere the insurance counsellor can make a presentation to a small group
of business people (such as the local chamber of commerce), field questions
on the topic, then collect business cards. Adding this technique to his/her lead
generation repertoire, an insurance counsellor often cannot help but be
successful.

To make the overall sales effort pay anticipated benefits, insurers need to also
help their bank partners determine what the hot buttons will be for
attracting the attention of the reader of both direct and e-mail. Great
opportunities await Bancassurance partners today and, in most cases, success
or failure depends on precisely how the process is developed and managed
inside each financial institution. This includes the large regional bank and the
small one-unit community bank.

44
Bancassurance Ventures Must Have Clear Objectives

Insurers Banks

Be aligned with good Penetrate client base

Public image of bank further with more products
Forge relationship Leverage positive image
Earlier in customers life Increase customer loyalty&
Lower acquisition costs retention

Customers

Buy lower-costs products

Buy more products from a
Single source
Get better, more efficient Service
45
Key driver of Bancassurance

Elsewhere in Asia has been the following. Banks are seeking ways to raise
additional earnings without commitment of additional capital in a low interest
rate environment; increased competition; reducing margin. Insurance
Companies are seeking new customers using new distribution activities to
reach such segment. As noted above, the biggest driver in India is different at
present: banks are seeking an alternative method of redeploying their surplus
workers. Of course, this is a one time only phenomenon.
Therefore, over time, we will see other factors that have played important
roles in other countries will also play out in India. It might be instructive to
examine what succeeded in America for the expansion of bancassurance
business. A survey by LIMRA identified the following elements for success
of bancassurance:

Strength of the Brand.

Sales Staff Management/Training.

The Branch Network/Geographical Coverage.

Bank and Insurance products form a complementary range.

Single view of the customer.

Focus on Customer Service/satisfaction.

46
 Use of Customer Relation Management Tools and Techniques.

Integration of the bank and insurance organizations producing a single

culture.

Providing advice/solutions, not selling products.

Requirements for success in Bancassurance

Attractive Insurance Product Base

Cost-Efficient Distribution System

Linked and Leveraged Bank and Insurance Products

Concurrent Sale of Bank and Insurance Products

Appropriate Structure Based on Level of Integration Between Bank and

Insurer

47
Achieving Success

To achieve success in bancassurance, Asian companies must overcome a host

of challenges. Some are cultural, while others reflect a lack of incentives to
generate sales as well as the natural conflicts between banking and insurance
products. The most successful products from a sales perspective are those that
are linked to banking products (e.g., loans and credit insurance) or that are
very similar to banking deposits (certainly in the initial stages of the
bancassurance operation) and offer superior returns to deposits, albeit over a
longer term than the usual time deposits.

Some obstacles are country specific. For example, in South Korea, each
Bancassurers must have at least three life partners and three non-life partners,
and all of these partners must receive less than 50% of the new business
generated by the bank, in their respective sectors, in any given quarter.

Not withstanding the many obstacles to success and challenges faced,

bancassurance ventures have enjoyed success in Asia. For example, Exhibit 3
shows the impressive emergence of bancassurance in Hong Kong. Prior to
1999, market share attributable to Bancassurers was minimal.

To achieve the level of success of bancassurance, banks will need to own

insurance companies or work very closely with insurance company partners
to restructure the value chain and provide products suitable for bank
customers. As long as regulatory constraints exist, alliances will be a critical
part of the effort by US banks to establish their insurance business. Banks

48
must develop successful alliances in the near term and use those experiences
to evaluate the opportunity to buy or build insurance companies as regulations
changes. There are five key approaches to forming insurance partnerships that
form a continuum from complete outsourcing to complete ownership: list
rental, working with a third party marketer, agency purchase, integrated
alliance, and ownership. Each of these approaches involves a different level
of value chain ownership and control.

The Indian context

In India, no company is allowed to transact both insurance and banking

business. They are kept separate. In fact, even a company registered, as an
insurance has to choose between life and non-life insurance. It cannot do
both. Therefore, the bank in India cannot have the advantages, which are
available in the European context.
There are joint ventures in India between banks and foreign insurers. State
Bank of India, HDFC, ICICI and Vysya bank are example. But apart from a
greater willingness to help each other, the joint venture will not give either
party a greater advantage in the others business. The joint venture is an
entirely independent unit of operation with separate personal and funds and
subjects to different regulations.
The only way in which banks can be associated with the insurance business in
India is by becoming a corporate agent, for remuneration. The bank can do so
far a particular life insurer and/or particular non-life insurer. The bank cannot
develop any of its intimate contacts with the customers. Since 2000 many

49
banks and insurers have agreed to arrangement for mutual benefits. The LIC
has tied with more than one bank. So also have other insurers.
For more than a hundred years, insurance business had been sold through
insurance agent and their supervisors. This system had been very satisfactory.
The LIC inherited these system. The efforts to make the agents more
professional had not yielded very satisfactory results, despite incentives and
training programmes. Many of them continue to treat the agency business
casually, as just a source of additional income. The turnover had been high
and the efforts of replenishing the strength, costly. The banks have skilled
staff, to which the procurement of insurance can reassigned as a duty. This
was an opportunity made available after the regulation of IRDA.

Bancassurance in India

Bancassurance commonly means selling insurance products under the same

roof of a bank. Though bancassurance had roots in France in the 1980s, and
spread across different parts of Continental Europe since, it has spread its
wings in Asia in particular, in India.

In India, there are a number of reasons why bancassurance could play a

natural role in the insurance market. First, banks have a huge network across
the country. Second, banks can offer fee-based income for the employees for
insurance sales. Third, banks are culturally more acceptable than insurance
companies. Dealing with (life) insurance, in many parts of India, conjure up

50
an image of a bad omen. Some bank products have natural complementary
insurance products. For example, if a bank gives out a home loan, it might
insist on a life insurance cover so that in case of death of the borrower, there
is no problem in paying off the home loan.

Bancassurance is: The provision of a complete range of banking, investment

and insurance product and services, to meet the individual needs of the
customers of the bank and its associates.

51
SOME IMPORTANT BANCASSURANCE TIE UPS

INSURANCE BANKS

Corporation Bank, Indian

Overseas Banks, Centurion
Bank, Satara District Bank,
LIFE INSURANCE CORPORATION
Cooperative Bank, Janata
(LIC)
Urban Cooperative Bank,
Yeotmal Mahila Sahkari Bank,
Oriental Bank of Commerce.
The Bank of Rajasthan,
Andhra Bank, Bank of Muscat,
BIRLA SUN LIFE INSURANCE Development Credit Bank,
Deutsche Bank and Catholic
Syrian Bank.

Canara Bank, Lakshmi Vilas

DABUR CGU LIFE INSURANCE
Bank, American Express Bank,
COMPANY PVT LTD
ABN Amro Bank.

HDFC STANDARD LIFE

Union Bank of India.
INSURANCE CO.

52
 Lord Krishna Bank, ICICI
Bank, Bank of India, Citibank,
ICICI PRUDENTIAL LIFE Allahabad Bank, Federal Bank,
INSURANCE CO. South Indian Bank, Punjab &
Maharashtra co-operative
Bank.

NATIONAL INSURANCE CO. City Union Bank.

Karnataka Banks, The

MET LIFE INDIA INSURANCE CO. Dhanalaxmi Bank, Jammu and
Kashmir Bank.

State Bank of India, Associate

SBI INSURANCE CO.
Bank

BAJAJ ALLIANZ GENERAL Krur Vysya Bank, Associate

INSURANCE Bank

Standard Chartered Bank,

ROYAL SUNDARAM GENERAL
ABN Amro Bank, Citibank,
INSURANCE CO.
Amex and Repco Bank

UNITED INDIA INSURANCE CO. South Indian Bank

53
Life Insurance Companies in India as at the end-March 2012

Private Sector Companies

1. Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
2. Birla Sun Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
3. HDFC Standard Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
4. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
5. ING Vysya Life Insurance Co. Pvt. Ltd.
6. SBI Life Insurance Company Limited
7. TATA-AIG Life Insurance Company Ltd.
8. Sahara India Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
9. Aviva Life Insurance Co India Pvt. Ltd.
10. Kotak Mahindra OU Mutual Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
11. Max New York Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
12. MetLife India Insurance Co. Pvt. Ltd
13. Reliance Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
14. Shriram Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
15. Bharti Axa Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

Public Sector Company

1. Life Insurance Corporation of India
The only private sector insurance Co without a foreign collaboration.

54
Non-Life Insurance Companies in India as at the end-March
2012
Private Sector Companies
1. Royal Sundaram Allianz Insurance Co. Ltd.
2. TATA-AIG General Insurance Co. Ltd.
3. Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd.
4. IFFCO-TOKIO General Insurance Co. Ltd.
5. ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co. Ltd.
6. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd.
7. HDFC Chubb General Insurance Co. Ltd.
8. Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Co. Ltd.
9. Star Health and Alhed Insurance Co. Ltd.

Public Sector Companies

1. The New India Assurance Co. Ltd.
2. National Insurance Co. Ltd.
3. United India Insurance Co. Ltd.
4. The Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd.
5. Export Credit Guarantee Corporation Ltd.
6. Agriculture Insurance Company Ltd.

55
Bancassurance in Asian market:

Two Asian markets of great interest for their potential size are China and
India. Although their insurance markets are relatively young, bancassurance is
now emerging in both countries.

India opened to private competition only two years ago, and so far 12 life
insurers have entered to compete with the Life Insurance Corporation of
India. Three-quarters of these new entrants have formed relationships with
banks (a number with several banking partners). Some relations are
particularly strong, having been established as joint venture partners. At
present, foreigners cannot hold more than a 26% stake. Clearly, bank
branches are an excellent way to extend reach over the huge geographies of
India and China.

In China, the regulatory enforced maximum arrangement fee of 8% between

banks and insurers has led to the vast majority of sales to date being single
premium (or short term) in nature. Furthermore, it appears that relationships
at the branch level currently carry more weight than those at head office,
leading to what some observers call branch assurance rather than
bancassurance.

As in many markets in Asia, bancassurance in China and India is in its early

days. Nonetheless, bancassurance will surely form an important component of
the Asian insurance landscape.

56
Bancassurance across the Global Market

Bancassurance" is a term, which first appeared in France after 1980 to define

the sale of insurance products through banks distribution channels. But this
term does not just refer specifically to distribution. Other features, such as
legal, fiscal, cultural and/or behavioral aspects form an integral part of the
concept of bancassurance. In fact, all these characteristics combined can
explain the marked differences in bancassurance across the globe. Although it
is clearly a predominant feature on some markets, representing over two
thirds of the premium income in Life Insurance, other markets do not appear
to have chosen it as their model.

This type of distribution is predominant in markets such as France, Spain and

Portugal, followed by Italy and Belgium. Bancassurance represents over 65%
of the premium income in Life Insurance in Spain, 60% in France, 50% in
Belgium and Italy. -In these countries, in only ten years, bancassurance has
become widely recognized as a successful model.

In France, in the 1970s, banks had to contend with a mature and highly
competitive market in banking.
By making use of existing legislation in insurance, bancassurance has
provided them with a new source of profit,

Which served to diversify their banking activity and optimize their choice of
products, thereby increasing customer loyalty? Consumers were provided
with simple solutions from a one-stop shop addressing all their financial

57
concerns: short-term liquidity, estate and retirement planning, property
purchase, protection against any unforeseen events in everyday life. In 2000,
bancassurance accounted for 35% of Life Insurance premiums; 60% of
savings premiums; 7% for Property Insurance and 69% of new premium
income in individual savings. This success has made France the leading
individual savings insurance market in Europe. In terms of premium income,
it ranks first in bancassurance.

Spain, like France, is among the most developed markets in bancassurance.

Today, it represents over 65% of life insurance premium income compared
with 43% in 1992. However, this high growth rate is not specifically due to
bancassurance, rather the whole of the life insurance market, which has
sustained a 30% increase per annum on average in the past fifteen years. In
the last decade, many international, often European, alliances have been made
between banks and insurance groups. This has concentrated the
bancassurance market, which was originally highly fragmented.
On the Spanish market, bancassurance developed more quickly because of the
well-established network of regional building societies, which today account
for 50% of Life insurance premiums in the bancassurance sector.

58
Bancassurance: Taking the lead

In the last financial year, India has experienced a substantial growth in the life
insurance business. The new business premium growth rate for the financial
year 2004-05 over the previous financial year is 36%. This growth is
primarily due to the aggressiveness witnessed in the private life insurance
sector, which grew by 129%.

One of the drivers for this substantial growth is the contribution of the
banking industry. The private life insurers have been instrumental in building
strong relationships with established banks for bancassurance. The
bancassurance model, in simple terms means distribution of insurance
products by banks to their customers. Apart from having the advantage of
reaching out to the potential customers at the remotest of places, it offers a
complete basket of financial advice to customers under one roof.

Bancassurance has been a successful model in the European countries

contributing 35% of premium income in the European life insurance market.
It contributes over 65% of the life insurance premium income in Spain, 60%
in France, 50% in Belgium and Italy.

In the US, the banks were earlier not allowed to sell insurance due to the
restrictions imposed by Glass-Stegall Act of 1933, which acted as a Chinese
wall between banking and insurance. As a result of this life insurance was
primarily sold through individual agents, who focused on wealthier
individuals, leading to a majority of the American middle class households
being under-insured. With the repealing of this Act in 1999, the doors were
59
opened for banks to distribute insurance and cater to the large middle class
segment

In the Asian markets, bancassurance has a limited share of the total sales
primarily because of the near monopoly of the life agents in Japan, which is
the largest life market. But there is a shift in stance with markets like Japan,
South Korea and the Philippines where bancassurance was previously
prohibited, taking a more accommodating stance towards this channel. It has
been estimated that bancassurance would contribute almost 16% of the life
premium in the Asian markets in the year 2006 primarily due to the growth
expected in India and China.

In India the bancassurance model is still in its nascent stages, but the
tremendous growth and acceptability in the last three years reflects green
pasture in future. The deregulation of the insurance sector in India has
resulted in a phase where innovative distribution channels are being explored.
In this phase, bancassurance has simply outshined other

60
The Problems in Bancassurance

Any bank getting into business of selling insurance cannot afford to have
casual approach to it. The staff, if deputed from within the existing bank staff,
will have to be specially trained in the intricacies of insurance and the art of
salesmanship. These skills will be required at levels different from the
requirements in banking operations. They will have to be persons who have
an external orientation.

The amount of business acquired through the banks depends entirely on the
personal skills of specified persons and the corporate insurance executives.
An effective and successful specified person might perhaps find it more
remunerative to branch off as an insurance agent on his own, instead of being
tied to the bank. The options available to the bank to prevent this may lie in
developing attractive compensations packages. The relevant issues will be the
restrictions imposed by insurance Act as well as relative pressures within the
unions of banks of employees.

The commitment of senior management is crucial to the success of the

persons deputed for the insurance work. The priorities for the managers may
depend on the criteria by which they will be appraised at the end of the year.
If the progress in insurance is not important criterion, the support to the
insurance activities may be reduced. They would see mainstream banking
activities as more important for their own future growth. The appraisal and
reward systems of the bank have to be appropriately aligned.

61
Bancassurance in India Some Issues

The difference in working style and culture of the banks and insurance sector
needs greater appreciation. Insurance is a business of solicitation unlike a
typical banking service, it requires great drive to sell/ market the insurance
products. It should, however, be recognized that bancassurance is not simply
about selling insurance but about changing the mindset of a bank. Moreover,
in India since the majority of the banking sector is in public sector and which
has been widely disparaged for the lethargic attitude and poor quality of
customer service, it needs to refurbish the blemished image. Else, the
bancassurance would be difficult to succeed in these banks. Studies have
revealed that the basic attitudinal incompatibility on the part of employees of
banks and insurance companies and the perception of customers about the
poor quality of banks had led to failures of bancassurance even in some of the
Latin American countries.
There are also glitches in the system of bancassurance strategy in the form of
conflict of interests, as some of the products offered by the banks, viz.,
term deposits and other products which are mainly aimed at long term
savings/ investments can be very similar to that of the insurance products.
Banks could as well feel apprehension about the possibility of substitution
effect between its own products and insurance products and more so, as a
number of insurance products in India come with an added attraction of tax
incentives.
In case the Bancassurance is fully integrated with that of the banking
institution, it is suitable only for larger banks; however, it has other allied

62
issues such as putting in place proper risk management techniques relating
to the insurance business, etc.
As there is a great deal of difference in the approaches of selling of insurance
products and the usual banking services- thorough understanding of the
insurance products by the bank staff coupled with extra devotion of time on
each customer explaining in detail of each products intricacies is a
prerequisite. Moreover, insurance products have become increasingly
complex over a period of time, due to improvisation over the existing
products as well as due to constant innovation of new products, emanating
from the excessive competition adding to even more difficulties in
comprehension of the products and marketing by the bank staff. These can
result in resistance to change and leading to problems relating to industrial
relations.
Unlike, the banking service, there is no guarantee for insurance products that
all efforts that a bank staff spends in explaining to a customer would clinch
the deal due to the very nature of the insurance products. This frustration of
the bank staff has the danger of spillover effect even on their regular banking
business.
Bankers in India are extremely nave in insurance products as there were no
occasions in the past for the bankers to deal in insurance products; therefore
they require strong motivation of both monetary and non-monetary
incentives. This would be more so in the emerging scenario due to complex
innovations in the field of insurance / pension products at a rapid pace with
the entry of a number of foreign insurance companies with vast experience in
the developed countries framework.

63
In view of the above, reorientation of staff in the public sector banks in
particular, to be less bureaucratic and more customers friendlier would indeed
be a challenging task, albeit it is a prerequisite for the success of
bancassurance.
With the financial reforms and technological revolution embracing the
financial system, there has been a great deal of flexibility in the mind set of
people to accept change. The above outlined problems need not, however,
deter the banking sector to embark on bancassurance as any form of
resistance from the bank employees could be tackled by devising an
appropriate incentive system commensurate with intensive training to the
frontline bank staff.
Regulatory and Supervisory Issues
With the increased structural deregulation within the financial system and
globalization the banking system in India has been exposed to tough
competition compelling them to move towards not only new vistas of
business activity under one roof by moving towards the universal banking
framework and eventually the emergence of financial conglomerate. Such
developments bring along some regulatory and supervisory concerns. Banks
have all along been functioning strictly on a traditional banking style with
highly compartmentalized manner. Now that the banking system enjoys more
of structural freedom exposing themselves to non-traditional activities such
as insurance, derivatives, investments banking, etc., there is possibility of
migration of risks from the rest of the activities to the banking system. Thus,
the increased market integration and globalization are demanding new realism
on the part of the regulator and supervisor for stricter prudential regulation
and supervisor on inter-sector activities especially, considering the pace

64
with which the system is moving. This process is referred in the literature as
structural deregulation and supervisory re-regulation. While it is inevitable
that Indian banks entering into insurance sector, given the size of the
transactions in general insurance transactions, coupled with the type of
built-in risks on the one side and that the banking system being the focal point
of the payment and settlement on the other, any migration from the former to
the latter will have a greater systemic implications. Therefore adequate and
appropriate checks and balances are required to be put in place in time by all
regulatory authorities concerned. Going by the international experience and
specificity of the Indian system, the likely problem areas are being
enumerated here:
The problem of conflict of interest would also arise in a different form; as
banks are privy to a lot of information about the customer, especially in the
context of know your customer (KYC) system being in place, these
information could be used by the insurers for their unfair advantage.
With more integration between and among various constituents of financial
sector, there is greater possibility for contagion effect.
In India all insurance companies in private sector of recent origin and are in
the process of stabilizing, also highly aggressive due to tough competition.
The over ambitiousness should not smack their own limitation, especially in
the case were insurance business is an internal organ of the universal banking
system. Especially in a situation such as large scale natural calamities, viz.,
Tsunami, earthquake, floods, etc., would have a serious debilitating impact on
the banking system, via insurance business. Therefore, the regulation and
supervision needs to address the institution as a financial conglomerate
rather than each institution individually.

65
 The regulator of the insurance sector is of very recent origin unlike the
banking sector regulatory authority, viz., RBI. Although IRDA has done
appreciable work within the short period, the regulation itself is a learning
experience; any major migration of risk from insurance to banking would be
more devastating if that was not handled appropriately at the right time.
In the absence of a unified regulator or a single regulator, the possibility for
regulatory arbitrage could not be ruled out. Presently there is no statutory
compulsion that the regulators should part with each other the sensitive
information relating to their respective regulatory areas in order to read the
signal, if any, which has systemic implications.
Differences in the risk characteristics in banking and insurance will persist,
relating, in particular, to the time pattern and degree of uncertainty in the cash
flows and that has to be recognized and appropriately handled.
The insurers internal risk management and control systems for managing
their asset market activities, and credit risk seems to be relatively less
transparent unlike the banking system as also the prudential regulatory and
supervisory system towards insurance is relatively recent one and less rigor as
compared with the banking system, especially in the context of the banking
system moving towards the Basel II framework.
Conflicts of interest between different regulators also could not be ruled
out.
Ensuring transparency and disclosure on activity-wise may be difficult task
for the regulators, albeit it is essential.
Possibility of abuse of consumers by bankers from being coerced to buy
insurance products against their will need to be guarded, which RBI has been
already emphasizing in its circular.

66
 Risk of double gearing also possible as pointed out by Gently and
Molyneux (1998).
Possibility of banks using the long term insurance funds to meet their short
term liquidity and the problem of asset - liability management also could not
be ruled out.
Recognizing the value of sound risk management practices and hence also
valuations on an aggregate portfolio basis - rather than individual instrument
basis would become essential to achieve alignment of underlying economic
realities with financial statements, as the system is moving towards higher
integration of varieties of activities including insurance.

67
RBI Guidelines for the Banks to enter into Insurance Business

Following the issuance of Government of India Notification dated August 3,

2000, specifying Insurance as a permissible form of business that could be
undertaken by banks under Section 6(1) (o) of the Banking Regulation Act,
1949; RBI issued the guidelines on Insurance business for banks.
1Any scheduled commercial bank would be permitted to undertake insurance
business as agent of insurance companies on fee basis, without any risk
participation. The subsidiaries of banks will also be allowed to undertake
distribution of insurance product on agency basis.

2. Banks which satisfy the eligibility criteria given below will be permitted to
set up a joint venture company for undertaking insurance business with risk
participation, subject to safeguards. The maximum equity contribution such a
bank can hold in the joint venture company will normally be 50 per cent of
the paid- up capital of the insurance company. On a selective basis the
Reserve Bank of India may permit a higher equity contribution by a promoter
bank initially, pending divestment of equity within the prescribed period (see
Note 1 below).
The eligibility criteria for joint venture participant are as under:
i. The net worth of the bank should not be less than Rs.500 crore;
ii. The CRAR of the bank should not be less than 10 per cent;
iii. The level of non-performing assets should be reasonable;
iv. The bank should have net profit for the last three consecutive years;
v. The track record of the performance of the subsidiaries, if any, of the
concerned bank should be satisfactory.

68
3. In cases where a foreign partner contributes 26 per cent of the equity with
the approval of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority/Foreign
Investment Promotion Board, more than one public sector bank or private
sector bank may be allowed to participate in the equity of the insurance joint
venture. As such participants will also assume insurance risk, only those
banks which satisfy the criteria given in paragraph 2 above, would be eligible.
4. A subsidiary of a bank or of another bank will not normally be allowed to
join the insurance company on risk participation basis. Subsidiaries would
include bank subsidiaries undertaking merchant banking, securities, mutual
fund, leasing finance, housing finance business, etc.

5. Banks which are not eligible for joint venture participant as above, can
make investments up to 10% of the net worth of the bank or Rs.50 crore,
whichever is lower, in the insurance company for providing infrastructure and
services support. Such participation shall be treated as an investment and
should be without any contingent liability for the bank.
The eligibility criteria for these banks will be as under:
i. The CRAR of the bank should not be less than 10%;
ii. The level of NPAs should be reasonable;
iii. The bank should have net profit for the last three consecutive years.

6. All banks entering into insurance business will be required to obtain prior
approval of the Reserve Bank. The Reserve Bank will give permission to
banks on case to case basis keeping in view all relevant factors including the
position in regard to the level of non-performing assets of the applicant bank

69
so as to ensure that non-performing assets do not pose any future threat to the
bank in its present or the proposed line of activity, viz., insurance business. It
should be ensured that risks involved in insurance business do not get
transferred to the bank and that the banking business does not get
contaminated by any risks which may arise from insurance business. There
should be arms length relationship between the bank and the insurance
outfit.

Notes:
1. Holding of equity by a promoter bank in an insurance company or
participation in any form in insurance business will be subject to compliance
with any rules and regulations laid down by the IRDA/Central Government.
This will include compliance with Section 6AA of the Insurance Act as
amended by the IRDA Act, 1999, for divestment of equity in excess of 26 per
cent of the paid up capital within a prescribed period of time.
2. Latest audited balance sheet will be considered for reckoning the eligibility
criteria.
3. Banks which make investments under paragraph 5 of the above guidelines,
and later qualify for risk participation in insurance business (as per paragraph
2 of the guidelines) will be eligible to apply to the Reserve Bank for
permission to undertake insurance business on risk participation basis.

70
Insurance Agency Business/ Referral Arrangement
The banks (includes SCBs and DCCBs) need not obtain prior approval of the
RBI for engaging in insurance agency business or referral arrangement
without any risk participation, subject to the following conditions:

i. The bank should comply with the IRDA regulations for acting as
composite corporate agent or referral arrangement with insurance
companies.

ii. The bank should not adopt any restrictive practice of forcing its customers
to go in only for a particular insurance company in respect of assets financed
by the bank. The customers should be allowed to exercise their own choice.

iii. The bank desirous of entering into referral arrangement, besides

complying with IRDA regulations, should also enter into an agreement with
the insurance company concerned for allowing use of its premises and making
use of the existing infrastructure of the bank. The agreement should be for a
period not exceeding three years at the first instance and the bank should have
the discretion to renegotiate the terms depending on its satisfaction with the
service or replace it by another agreement after the initial period. Thereafter,
the bank will be free to sign a longer term contract with the approval of its
Board in the case of a private sector bank and with the approval of
Government of India in respect of a public sector bank.

71
iv. As the participation by a banks customer in insurance products is purely
on a voluntary basis, it should be stated in all publicity material distributed by
the bank in a prominent way. There should be no linkage either direct or
indirect between the provision of banking services offered by the bank to its
customers and use of the insurance products.

v. The risks, if any, involved in insurance agency/referral arrangement should

not get transferred to the business of the bank.

72
73
The Future of Bancassurance

Although bancassurance ventures in Latin America and Asia have followed

different paths, they share the same objectives and requirements for success.
All recognize the value of the banks customer base. Bancassurance will
eventually take hold in the US. The objectives announced when Bank One
acquired Zurich Insurance Operation point to bancassurance as a fundamental
reason behind the acquisition. Experiences in both Latin America and Asia
may prove valuable to banks and insurers entering into bancassurance
ventures in the US and elsewhere.

Indian Insurance Business Projected to US$60 Billion by 2010

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM)

has projected a 500% increase in the size of current Indian insurance business
from US$ 10 billion to US$ 60 billion by 2010 particularly in view of
contribution that the rural and semi-urban insurance will make to it.
Rural and Semi-Urban Life Insurance business is expected to touch US$ 20
billion figure in next 4 years from current level of less than US$5 billion now
as rural and semi-urban folk will want themselves to ensure them for better
future and rising purchasing power will motivate them to move towards
insurance.

74
In view of Assocham, the non-life insurance will rise to US$ 15 billion by
2010 from its negligible size now and in Urban areas, life insurance
businesses are anticipated to reach US$ 15 billion and that of non-life
insurance US$ 10 billion, according to Chamber Paper on Insurance Sector.

Assocham has revealed that rural and semi-urban India shall contribute US
$35 billion to the Indian insurance industry by 2010, including US $20 billion
by way of life insurance and the rest US $15 billion through non-life
insurance schemes. A large part of rural India is still untapped due to poor
distribution, large distances and high costs relative to returns. Urban sector
insurance is estimated to reach US $25 billion by 2010, life insurance US $15
billion.

Estimating the potential of the Indian insurance market from the perspective
of macro-economic variables such as the ratio of premium to GDP, Assocham
Papers reveals that Indias life insurance premium, as a percentage of GDP is
1.8% against 5.2% in the US, 6.5% in the UK or 8% in South Korea.

Assocham findings further reveals that in the coming years the corporate
segment, as a whole will not be a big growth area for insurance companies.
This is because penetration is already good and companies receive good
services. In both volumes and profitability therefore, the scope for expansion
is modest. Survey suggested that insurers strategy should be to stimulate
demand in areas that are currently not served at all. Insurance companies
mostly focus on manufacturing sector; however, the services sector is taking a
large and growing share of Indias GDP and offers immense opportunities.

75
Being an agrarian economy again there are immense opportunities for the
insurance companies to provide the liability and risks associated in this sector.
The Paper found that the rural markets are still virgin territories to a great
extent and offer exciting opportunities for insurance companies. To
understand the prospects for insurance companies in rural India, it is very
important to understand the requirements of India's villagers, their daily lives,
their peculiar needs and their occupational structures. There are farmers,
craftsmen, milkmen, weavers, casual labourers, construction workers and
shopkeepers and so on. More often than not, they are into more than one
profession.

The rural market offers tremendous growth opportunities for insurance

companies and insurers should develop viable and cost-effective distribution
channels; build consumer awareness and confidence. The Paper found that
there are a total 124 million rural households. Nearly 20% of all farmers in
rural India own a Kissan Credit cards. The 25 million credit cards used till
date offer a huge data base and opportunity for insurance companies. An
extensive rural agent network for sale of insurance products could be
established. The agent can play a major role in creating awareness, motivating
purchase and rendering insurance services to all the customers properly.
There should be nothing to stop insurance companies from trying to pursue
their own unique policies and target whatever needs that they want to target in
rural India. Assocham suggests that insurance needs to be packaged in such a
form that it appears as an acceptable investment to the rural people.

76
Case study
UCO INKS BANCASSURANCE MoU WITH LIC

Barely a month before its scheduled Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) initial public
offering, UCO Bank on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding
with the Life Insurance Corporation of India to market the latter's insurance
schemes from its branches.

"Our endeavor is not only for selling products, but to go for a strategic
alliance with LIC," UCO Bank chairman and managing director V P Shetty
said after signing the MoU in Kolkata.

The tie-up was aimed at providing value added services in the form of life
insurance products to over 2 crore (20 million) customers of UCO.

LIC chairman S B Mathur said things were really happening with the opening
up of the insurance sector, and achieving and retaining customers was high on
the agenda.

With interest margins coming down and costs rising, increasing fee-based
income had become important for both the banks and insurance companies,
he said.

Mathur said it was a win-win situation for both LIC and UCO Bank. It was
more critical considering that PSU had become a kind of dirty word related
with inefficiency, absence of work culture, but what has happened in UCO
and LIC during the last few years, had helped changed that notion.

77
Shetty said, "Our interest income is dwindling and to compensate for this we
had to resort to other avenues like this to increase fee-based income."

SBI-New India Bancassurance Tie Up

State Bank of India, the country's largest Bank and New India Assurance Co.
Ltd, India's largest non- life insurance company have tied up for distributing
general insurance policies of New India through SBI's branch network.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed yesterday between SBI and

New India for the Bancassurance tie up. As per the memorandum of
Understanding, SBI will become the corporate Agent of New India after
completing the formalities prescribed by IRDA.

SBI, has of late, been laying emphasis on cross selling various products to its
customers. It has already become Corporate Agent of SBI Life Insurance Co.
Ltd for life insurance business. SBI Life's products are now being sold by
around 1000 SBI branches. Mutual Fund products of SBI Mutual Fund are
also now being sold through select branches of SBI. Similarly, SBI Credit
Cards are also sold through SBI's branch network. While all these products
are from SBI's own stable, the tie up with New India will be a first for SBI in
vending a third party's product.

New India as the largest non-life insurer in the country is the first general
insurance company to cross Rs.4000 crs premium mark last year having
booked overall premium of Rs.4812.79 crs. The Company has been
reaffirmed 'A' Excellent rating for the 4th consecutive year by A.M. Best

78
(Europe). For New India a tie up with SBI, the country's largest bank with a
9000 strong branch network is a major boost. Bancassurance as a distribution
channel is assuming increasing important for both life and non- life insurers.

The tie up between the two largest players in their respective fields will
enable SBI to leverage its unmatched branch network and customer base to
cross sell a range general insurance products and thus open up a new revenue
stream. For New India, the tie up with SBI will enable it to tap into SBI's
huge network and customer base.

The above Agreement was signed by the Director and General Manager,
(Indian Business Dept.) of New India and General Manager (Marketing) of
SBI.

SBI Life Insurance is one of the leaders among the fast growing
private life insurance players in India.

Current milestones

1st in "lives covered" amongst private players - 2.8 Million at last

count
1st in the Group Insurance segment
4th in terms of premium income, with Rs 600 Crores in 2004-05
Ranked as one of the Most Trusted Brands amongst Life Insurance
Companies by Brand Equity, The Economic Times

79
 Starting out in 2001 with an enviable pedigree, SBI Life Insurance is a
joint venture between State Bank of India - India's largest bank, and
Cardiff - the insurance arm of BNP Paribas. Cardiff is the largest
'Bancassurance' company globally, and BNP Paribas is one of top ten
global banks.

With our combined strengths and successes, we symbolize the virtues of

'security' and 'sustainability' in a business, where relationships with
customers can span up to 25 years. Our financial solidity, ethical practices
and domain expertise truly mean - WITH US YOU ARE SURE.

Our distribution channels enable us to reach all customer segments:

Bancassurance - through SBI Group's 14000 branches

Agency channel - through a growing network of insurance advisors
Corporate Agents and Brokers - in major cities
Corporate & Institutional sales
Credit Life - tie ups with companies offering life insurance along with
their home loan and vehicle loan schemes
NRI Sales - reaching out to Non-Resident Indians through SBI's NRI/
NRE accounts

With so many strengths, we are uniquely placed to achieve our mission:

"To emerge as a leading company offering a comprehensive range of life
insurance and pension products at competitive prices, ensuring high
standards of customer satisfaction, and world class operating efficiency and
become a model firm in the liberalized life insurance industry in India."
80
According to the SBI Life insurance estimates, about 15 per cent of the gross
premium of new insurance players in financial year 2003 came through
bancassurance. Companies. According to SBI Life insurance estimates, about
15 per cent of the gross premium of new players in FY 2003 came through
bancassurance and is estimated to grow further.
While we have examined the motivations that banks have for taking insurance
products on board, the incentives for insurance companies to run to banks for
marketing and distribution support particularly in India need to be examined.
Before that it is useful to review the traditional channels of insurance
distribution. Internationally and in India, the bulk of distribution is done
through the direct sales force (DSF) of insurance provides followed by
insurance brokers. Direct marketing and more recent innovation such as
internet marketing constitute only a minor fraction of the total distribution
effort.

81
CONCLUSION

It is difficult to draft an overall conclusion on bancassurance around the

world", because as we have seen, the sectors level of maturity differs from
one country to the next. For this reason, each country needs to be looked at
individually.

Now that we have shared our observations and thoughts on the emergence of
bancassurance and its current status, it would seem reasonable to ask how
bancassurance is likely to develop in the coming years.

Some countries, where bancassurance currently plays a relatively minor role,

are trying to identify the reasons for this failure and would now like to
develop these activities on a different basis. A process of rapprochement
between banks and insurance companies was attempted by the so-called
Anglo-Saxon countries such as the USA, the UK or Germany, where the
bancassurance model never really took off. Through financial deregulation
and/or an understanding of the reasons for this limited development, the two
industries may perhaps be able to establish genuine alliances.
The high levels of recent economic growth in certain parts of the world
(China, India, etc.) suggests the possibility that bancassurance may emerge in
other countries. This emergence may take different forms: the integrated
model, or simple cooperation. The degree of integration will depend above all
on the local context in each market and the strategy adopted by the operators.
However, these are not the only factors that will determine whether

82
bancassurance succeeds. Many other elements and factors are required for a
successful convergence.

As regards the countries where bank assurance is the dominant model, mainly
the so-called Latin countries of Europe, banking and life assurance would
now seem to be two intimately linked activities, sharing the primary goal of
fulfilling a global customer need. The bancassurance model should therefore
continue to gain market share, even if bancassurance operators have already
begun thinking about a possible change of direction, or at least a shift to new
objectives, products and customers.

Thus, after starting out with a mass distribution rationale and a strong focus
on bank customers i.e. on individuals bancassurance operators are
becoming increasingly innovative, and showing evidence of a willingness and
ability to adjust and respond to their customers. This should enable them to
maintain their position, and also to target new objectives, such as high-net-
worth customers, business customers, professionals, young people, etc.
In terms of products too, bancassurance operators are diversifying and
moving into a new era of more complex life insurance products, niches
previously confined to the traditional channels. The goal of mature
bancassurance operators is now to be able to fulfill even the most specific
customer needs.

However, for some years it has also been clear that a new movement is
emerging: bancassurance operators are looking at property and casualty injury
products. In France, Solving Internationals annual survey has shown that the

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market share of the banks in this segment, especially Credit Agricole and
Credit Mutual, grew between 2001 and 2003 by almost 1% a year. Just as
with life products, and within the same perspective of success, personal injury
products are now increasingly designed and sold to fit into an integrated
banking approach.

However, the future of bancassurance is not predetermined, and operators will

need to deal with increasingly tough competition. For example, to counter the
rise in bancassurance, traditional insurance companies have responded with
the invention of Assurbanque and the launch of their own range of banking
products. For the moment, this offensive is too recent for predictions to be
made about its future.

To sum up, in the countries where it is already well established,

bancassurance can still grow in certain market sectors, while in other parts of
the world, it is a matter of starting from scratch. Bancassurance still has a
long way to go.

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