Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Provides Insurance Cover To Over 25,000 Social Sector Lives

Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Provides Insurance Cover To Over    25,000 Social Sector Lives

·         With a focus on financial inclusion, the Company has crossed the social sector target mandated by IRDA for this financial year

·         Company has provided insurance cover to 25,000 lives in the first 5 months of the current financial year and had also overachieved the target in FY 2013-14 by covering over 56,000 lives as against a target of 25,000 lives

Delhi, September 2014: With a focus on financial inclusion, which is essential for the county’s development, Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance covered over 25,000 social sector lives between April–August 2014, delivering affordable life insurance solutions to address the needs of the social sector and economically weaker sections of the society, especially those who have no or very little access to organised financial services. With this, Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurancehas also crossed the social sector target mandated by IRDA for the current financial year. The Company had also overachieved the mandated target in FY 2013-14 by covering over 56,000 lives as against a target of 25,000 lives.

This has been achieved through the Company’s bancassurance business model which enabled the Company to reach out to the financially vulnerable population, covering bank customers with a no-frill account and members of SHGs, Micro Credit Group, Joint Liability Group and Tenant Farmers Group with a bank account.

Life insurance coverage is provided through Sampoorna Kavach, a group microinsurance product that ensures speedy enrollment through a single-page enrolment form and individual’s declaration of good health.

Mr John Holden, Chief Executive Officer, Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company, said, “The vulnerabilities existing in the lives of people who may be financially excluded are many including the loss of life of the earning member of the household which can wipe out the entire family’s savings and push the family deep into a financial crisis. We have undertaken an extensive research to understand the specific needs to address the life protection requirements of the financially excluded population and have kept affordability and simplicity as the criteria for the product.”

Mr Holden added, “We are committed to financial inclusion which helps development of society. Insuring 25,000 mandated social sector lives in the first 5 months of the current financial year is just the start.  Together with the banks, we will continue to focus on the social sector and provide affordable life insurance solutions aligned to their needs.”

                                         

About

1.     Social sector as defined by IRDA includes unorganised sector, informal sector, economically vulnerable or backward classes and other categories of persons, both in rural and urban areas.

2.     Year-wise Social Sector Lives Covered by Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company Limited

Financial Year	Regulatory Target	Achievement	%
2008-09	2500	2586	103.4
2009-10	7500	8073	107.6
2010-11	10000	10158	101.6
2011-12	15000	18874	125.8
2012-13	20000	27544	137.7
2013-14	25000	56669	200.4

About Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company Limited (www.canarahsbclife.com) Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company Limited was launched in June 2008 and is jointly owned by two of India’s largest public sector banks – Canara Bank (holding 51%) and Oriental Bank of Commerce (23%) – and HSBC Insurance (Asia Pacific) Holdings Limited (26%), the Asian insurance arm of one of the world’s largest banking and financial services groups – HSBC. The Company has exclusive access to around 60 million customers and a pan-India network of over 7000 branches of Canara Bank, HSBC and Oriental Bank of Commerce.

The formidable distribution strength and in-depth local market knowledge of Canara Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce coupled with the considerable insurance experience, product range and proven Bancassurance capabilities of HSBC make this an unparalleled union of financial strength, expertise and most importantly, trust.

To deliver affordable insurance solutions to address the needs of the rural population, the social sector and economically weaker sections of the society, especially those who have no or very little access to organised financial services, the Company has also tied up with a Rural Regional Bank (RRB) – Pragathi Krishna Gramin Bank in Karnataka.

Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company understands that today innovation is a key differentiator.  Based on customer needs, the Company currently offers 13 products – 5 unit-linked and 8 traditional; 8 out of these are individual and 5 are group products.

The company achieved statutory break-even in 5th year of operations owing to its bancassurance business model, leading to a lean cost structure, strong persistency levels and superior underwriting process. Since launch on June 16, 2008 to July 31, 2014, the Company’s business in terms of Gross Written Premium (GWP) stood at Rs 8753.2 crore and the number of policies sold are 4,56,396.