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IIC urges underwriting firms to engage banks on Bancassurance

By Bankole Orimisan
23 January 2023   |   3:20 am
The Insurance Industry Committee (IIC) has called on underwriting firms to engage banks to drive Bancassurance in line with the newly revised guidelines released by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to support the growth of the segment.

The Insurance Industry Committee (IIC) has called on underwriting firms to engage banks to drive Bancassurance in line with the newly revised guidelines released by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to support the growth of the segment.

Bancassurance is the selling of life assurance and other insurance products and services by banking institutions. It is an initiative of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) aimed at driving insurance penetration in Nigeria.

The committee said banks and insurance firms could leverage the initiative to access asset and customer base of both industries to provide banking and insurance services.

At its 13th meeting held in Lagos, a member of the publicity committee, Jide Orimolade, said the development was applauded by operators, adding that it will ensure fair play among operators.

Orimolade said: “This would disable exclusivity, which is also in line with the CBN’s regulation that prescribes that a commercial bank cannot propose the product of only the insurance company they are partnering with to a consumer.”

He said the collaboration would be profitable and mutually beneficial to both industries as well as their teeming customers.

Orimolade also explained the benefits offered by bancassurance, saying it would increase the profitability of both banks and insurance companies, raise retention rates.

The Director of Corporate Affairs and Market Development, NAICOM, Rasaaq Salami, also spoke on the development and the industry performance. He said the approach would greatly deepen financial inclusion and boost insurance penetration.

Salami noted that insurance compliance in Nigeria is currently low, and the initiative can help get insurance services to all the nooks and crannies and create awareness of the need for insurance covers to improve compliance.

On the performance of the industry in 2022, Salami, said: “Lots of indices are looking upward for the industry this year.
That is very encouraging because of several factors, such as the IIC meeting. The IIC is a meeting point for regulators and operators to resolve issues and come up with common processes and objectives on what should be done.

“This has helped in improving the performance of the industry and gradually reducing friction between the regulator and the operators. We hope that the situation will be maintained in the coming years.”

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