Page 19 - Insurance Times December 2020

y decline in individual APE in October philosophy ahead," said IndiaFirst Life access knowledge, infrastructure, and
2020 (down 24% y-o-y in September Insurance Company Ltd deputy CEO support from Max Life to transform
2020). It continues to report lower- Rushabh Gandhi. "By leveraging Gen- business processes through technology.
than-industry growth owing to pres- esis BCW's expertise and long-standing Max Life plans to select startups to co-
sure on ULIPs and likely slowdown at experience, we aim to enhance develop solutions in the areas of artifi-
ICICI Bank. Individual sum assured was IndiaFirst Life's brand visibility and con- cial intelligence/machine learning,
down 3% y-o-y reflecting moderation nect among all our stakeholders. We smart underwriting, blockchain, health
in protection product. While ULIPs are confident this partnership will help & wellness, intelligent data acquisition
have likely picked up sequentially, it us communicate our purpose as a & advanced data analytics.
remains weak on a y-o-y basis. brand and build on our vision of secur-
SBI Life's individual APE was up 14% y- ing lives and creating value." Saral set to heat up term
o-y in October 2020 (decline of 4-14% "This is an exciting opportunity for us insurance mkt
y-o-y over July-August 2020). Overall to support one of the youngest and The term protection market in the life
APE was up 13% y-o-y. Individual sum fastest growing life insurance compa- insurance industry is set to heat up
assured was up 10% y-o-y while group nies in the country in its communica- with insurers readying to launch Saral
sum assured was up 45% y-o-y; credit tions journey," said Genesis BCW CEO — a standard term policy that has
life has likely held on well. Deepshikha Dharmaraj. "We are living been designed by the regulator, where
Max Life' individual APE was up 49% y- in a world of heightened ambiguity, and insurers are expected to compete on
o-y while individual sum assured was IndiaFirst Life aims to give their cus- price.
up 25% y-o-y. Traction in the non-par tomers assurance in these challenging In October, the Insurance Regulatory
savings business continued to support times. We look forward to spreading and Development Authority of India
growth in Q2FY21. Max Life has fared their message of #LifeIs Full Of Certain- (Irdai) directed all life insurers to start
better than most peers during the ties and help them build strong rela- selling from January 1, 2021 the Saral
pandemic. Group APE was up 35% y- tionships with their stakeholders based Jeevan Bima — a cover with standard
o-y while group sum assured increased on trust and values." wording for sum insured ranging from
1.1X y-o-y; credit life has likely revived. Rs 5 lakh to Rs 25 lakh. Although insur-
Max Life Insurance launches ers have been wary of selling lower

Genesis BCW wins na- second edition of its value term covers, the rise in demand
tional PR mandate for insurtech accelerator pro- for term cover during the pandemic
has shifted focus to protection.
IndiaFirst Life Insurance gram According to ICICI Prudential Life In-

Genesis BCW has been appointed as After a successful first edition of Max surance MD & CEO N S Kannan, there
agency on record for IndiaFirst Life Life Innovation Labs in 2019, Max Life has been a 70% increase in online
Insurance Company Ltd (IndiaFirst Insurance Company Ltd. announced search for ‘term insurance’ during the
Life), following a multi-agency pitch. the launch of the second edition of its pandemic. “Retail sum insured has
Genesis BCW will strengthen IndiaFirst flagship insurtech accelerator pro- gone up by 5-6% during this period.
Life's core brand value of being a trusted gram. With the launch of the second Sum insured is growing ahead of GDP,
business leader in the life insurance and edition of Max Life Innovation Labs, the which is good news for industry,” said
pensions sector, leveraging through an life insurer is inviting technology Kannan. At the same time, claims have
integrated communications approach startups to build smart fintech and been less than what was expected
combining strategic counselling and insurtech solutions for specific business during the pandemic. “We had created
communication, media advocacy, crisis challenges. an additional reserve, which did not
preparedness and driving thought lead- Conceptualised in partnership with In- get used up. This is a bit sad as it is an
ership in the banking, financial services vest India - the national investment indication that insurance penetration
and insurance (BFSI) space. promotion & facilitation agency of In- is low,” he said.
"We are delighted to announce Gen- dia, which will host the programme on Besides ICICI Prudential, Life Insurance
esis BCW as our communications part- the Startup India Hub, the program Corporation and other private compa-
ner as we take our #CustomerFirst will provide startups the opportunity to nies are working on the product.
The Insurance Times, December 2020