FWD Thailand is extending its bancassurance partnership with Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) for two more years to meet the growing demand for coverage and protection amongst the bank’s clients.
This new and enhanced agreement builds on the successful collaboration between the insurer and SCB, a partnership that drove FWD Thailand’s new business compound annual rate to $270 million in 2022, up 67% from 2019.
Through the deal, all 660 branches of SCB distribute FWD Thailand’s insurance products and services with full integration into the bank’s digital tools and accessible by 78% of the bank’s customer base. The end of 2022 saw the bancassurance deal covering approximately 1.4 million policyholders in Thailand.
The insurer highlighted the significant untapped potential in the Thai life insurance market as the country’s population remains underinsured. At the end of 2021, the penetration rate in the country was 3.8%, with the protection gap worth US$4.1 billion. Peter Grimes, FWD Thailand and Cambodia regional CEO, said that the firm is looking forward to its continued presence in the country as another emerging insurance market in Southeast Asia.
“As FWD Group marks its 10th anniversary year, we’re delighted to extend this increasingly successful partnership,” Grimes said. “FWD and SCB have a shared focus on providing digitally-enabled services that put customers first and at the centre of everything we do. We look forward to continuing on our journey of changing the way people feel about insurance in Thailand – a country with a large, increasingly affluent, and digitally literate population.”
The insurer also recently upgraded its home insurance coverage for its customer base in Singapore as the policy now includes complimentary cyber protection for 12 months.
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