Shriram Life aims to double rural presence by 2025 using digital campaign

Company uses various digital channels for agents and customers to access life insurance products and services

Shriram Life Insurance Company (SLIC) plans to double its rural presence by 2025 using digital processes and platforms, it said on Thursday.

The company is working on targets like becoming 100 per cent paperless, reducing the turnaround time for on-boarding clients to four minutes, and claims settlement in six hours time by 2025.

Shriram Life Insurance uses various digital channels for agents and customers to access its life insurance products and services. Astra is one of its frequently used client on-boarding platforms used by agents. In the first nine months of FY23 alone, the company took in 80 per cent new retail customers through Astra app.

Jointly promoted by South Africa’s Sanlam Group and India’s Shriram Group, Shriram Life Insurance received IRDAI approval for EKYC through all modes, including facial recognition. The company, as of now, carries out 48 per cent of all its payments digitally.

“Our digital initiatives are focused on our purpose to extend life insurance to the segments of society that need it most – especially the rural and mass market segments.  Technology and innovation enable us to reach and service our customers more efficiently. It provides more options for our customers and deepens our association and engagement with them,” said Casparus J H Kromhout, managing director and chief executive officer, Shriram Life Insurance.

Shriram Smart Suraksha Card (Suraksha Apni Jeb Main) is the company’s latest attempt at combining its rural digital enablement programme with its flagship service excellence programme, We Care. The Smart Suraksha Card, which was unveiled on Thursday, gives instant access to customers’ digital policy bond. Through its QR codes, customers can opt to pay renewal premiums within a few taps.

The company, which operates through 423 branches across 23 states, offers coverage at an average ticket size of approximately Rs 19,000. Shriram Life’s chatbot ShriA and its WhatsApp platform have seen close to 2.3 lakh users and 3.44 lakh customers, according to the data available in the third quarter of the financial year.