Malaysia: Insurer enables policy delivery through WhatsApp
From left to right: Gibraltar BSN Life chief marketing officer Susan Ong, president and CEO Rangam Bir, COO Chua Kim Soon
Gibraltar BSN Life has introduced its “first-in-market” WhatsApp e-Policy delivery system. It has also launched a chatbot named GINA (Gibraltar INtelligent Assistant) to provide 24/7 customer service to policyholders on WhatsApp.
Under the insurer’s WhatsApp e-Policy delivery system, a new customer will receive an SMS informing them that their e-Policy is ready together with a link to download the e-Policy on WhatsApp upon policy issuance.
Meanwhile, existing customers can add the insurer’s business phone number to chat with GINA on WhatsApp and obtain basic information on branch locations, list of panel hospitals, performance of investment-linked funds, download forms and also ask to speak to a customer service representative.
The launch of the WhatsApp e-policy delivery system and chatbot GINA comes after digital sales solution for agents called iLyfe launched earlier this month. These digital initiatives are part of the insurer’s three year-long transformation programme ASCEND.
“We are proud to be the first insurer in Malaysia to deliver immediacy and convenience to our customers by leveraging WhatsApp, a popular household messenger app that allows our customers to easily retrieve their insurance policies whenever they want, gain answers to their queries instantly anytime or even download claim documents,” said Gibraltar BSN CEO Rangam Bir.
With over 1.6bn users, WhatsApp is currently the world’s most used messenger app. It also dominates the Malaysian market which has 86% internet penetration according to the Internet Users Survey 2018 published by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.
AIA Company Limited (Brunei Branch)’s life insurance business to be transferred to AIA Singapore (Brunei Branch)
AIA Company Limited and AIA Singapore Private Limited (AIA Singapore) intend to make a court application for confirmation of a Scheme of Arrangement for the transfer of the life insurance business of AIA Company Limited (Brunei Branch) to AIA Singapore (Brunei Branch).
AIA Brunei has been in Brunei over the past 60 years. The Brunei business is currently set up as a branch of AIA Company Limited, a company which is incorporated in Hong Kong and regulated by the Hong Kong Insurance Authority.
AIA is proposing to transfer its Brunei business from AIA Company Limited, acting through its branch in Brunei to AIA Singapore, acting through its new branch in Brunei.
AIA Singapore is a prominent life insurer with a history of close to 90 years in Singapore. It has a strong financial foundation, and is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Following the transfer, AIA Brunei will continue to be regulated under the Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam as a licensed life insurer.
Kenneth Ling, General Manager of AIA Brunei, said, “The existing terms and conditions of policies issued by AIA Brunei will remain unchanged. Policies will be automatically transferred to the new branch and we have notified our existing customers of the transfer.”
The Proposed Transfer is planned to take effect on 1 January 2020 or at a date AIA may later share.
Singapore: Maybank raises over S$500,000 for charity
Pic: Flag off of the Charity Walk at Sentosa Palawan Green, over 2,000 participants walked to Universal Studios Singapore on 24 August 2019
Maybank clocks over 8,800 volunteer hours and raises over S$500,000 for charity at Maybank Global Corporate Responsibility Day on 24 August 2019.
180 social service users were invited to join in Maybank’s Family Day at Universal Studios Singapore, where they were treated to a day of fun at a seaside carnival at Sentosa as well as participated in a fundraising Charity Walk in company with Maybank staff volunteers and their family members.
More than 2,000 Maybank staff and their family and friends took part in the Charity Walk from Sentosa Palawan Green to Universal Studios Singapore (USS) to raise funds. In addition, staff, clients and corporate partners of the bank made generous outright donations as well as bid for limited edition Manchester United Football Club memorabilia.
The total donations raised were over S$500,000 in support of the President’s Challenge 2019. Through Community Chest, the funds will be channelled to support Maybank’s charity partners: Lions Befrienders, Montfort Care, Institute of Mental Health (IMH) and MINDS.
Leading up to the main event day, over the course of three months, almost 800 Maybank staff volunteers took time off from work to organise 17 self-initiated volunteering activities that ranged from bringing Lions Befrienders’ seniors for functional screening to holding educational workshops for the families from Montfort Care so that they can manage their budget better.
Suspending the British parliament is tantamount to actively pursuing a recession
Following the news of the Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament alongside the fall in sterling and the FTSE100, Seema Shah, Chief Strategist at Principal Global Investors, shares how this move is akin to actively pursuing a recession and increases the likelihood of big international investors decreasing their exposure to the UK.
“From an economic point of view, actively pursuing a no-deal Brexit through suspending parliament is tantamount to actively pursuing a recession. The PM’s move comes at a time when the FTSE 100 is on course to record its largest monthly fall in four years. The large, multinational businesses in the FTSE have, naturally, been highly sensitive to an escalating trade war between China and the US, particularly as the complex global supply chains of which they are parts face seismic disruptions. They are fighting political fires at home and abroad.
“What is noteworthy about this sharp monthly fall is that it corresponds with a currency valued at historically low levels. Since the Referendum, currency falls have tended to give a boost to the FTSE as companies benefit from a weakened currency via enhanced international earnings. Although the pound had been mounting something of a feeble rally against the dollar in August – before The PM’s bombshell - it was still at rock bottom valuations against the US and Eurozone currencies. Company fundamentals remain broadly strong so the implication is that global investors have finally reached the “do not touch” point for UK equities. We appear to be at the limits of what the FX markets can do for companies, with the economic clouds beginning to shut out the rays of light afforded by a weak currency.
“The rare sight of the stock market and the currency market coming to the same conclusion - namely that the UK is best avoided for now - throws into sharp relief investor sentiment towards a No Deal UK. Whilst turbulent markets will obviously create some attractive selective opportunities and relative value trades for stock pickers, the big international investors now look increasingly likely to decrease their exposure to the UK.”
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