Pru Life UK is looking at banks and non-traditional players to partner with in a bid to boost its distribution network and include more Filipinos into the social protection system.
Prudential plc CEO Anil Wadhwani said its local subsidiary targets to forge partnership either through bancassurance or via non-traditional modes such as e-wallets and financial technology (fintech) to access underserved markets beyond its agency model, in an interview with The STAR.
While Pru Life UK has a large insurance force, it currently does not have bank partners. Other industry players have entered into bancassurance that allows life insurance products to be sold within the banks’ premises, with the approval of both the Insurance Commission and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
“That is something that we are pursuing in the Philippines. I would love to have something with banks. I’m also ready to kind of explore non-bank partners,” Mr Wadhwani said.
“We’ve been attempting to do this for a while. Our core strength is agency but thinking about our next chapter of growth and how we can drive better penetration, to my mind, that’s the opportunity.”
Current regulations limit that an insurance firm should be part of a financial conglomerate to be able to sell within bank premises especially for variable universal life (VUL) insurance, one that allows for the cash value to be invested in the market.
Existing rules likewise mandate that banks can only partner with a single insurance company as in the case of AIA Philippines and Bank of the Philippine Islands, Allianz and Philippine National Bank, AXA Philippines and Metrobank, Manulife and China Bank and Sun Life and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., among others.
Mr Wadhwani said regulators should be able to create frameworks that allow companies like Prudential to penetrate and offer services deeper into the market.