In digital drive, Aegon Life looking for fintech partnerships

Aegon Life Insurance is exploring partnerships with fintech firms to expand customer base through a digital push of selling policies online, a top company official said.
Among 23 private life insurers, Aegon is ahead of only Sahara Life on new premium collection.
The LIC, the only state-owned life insurer, holds the top rank in the life insurance space.
"While market share is important, at this point of time, the focus is to build the business more towards direct-to- customer and more digital with an omni-channel kind of a concept," Saibal Ghosh, Chief Investment Officer, Aegon Life Insurance, told PTI during an interaction.

"Our focus will be largely digital as we believe that digital is going to be big. We are also looking out for digital partners, we will also be looking at some of the financial services companies with a digital focus," Ghosh added.
In terms of premium collection, the company earns around one-third or 30-35 per cent of the business through digital means like mobile application or Internet-based online channels.

The rest of the polices are sold through the direct channel of the company's own sales personnel.
The overall objective, Ghosh said, is to push the online business as much as possible.

Asked to name the probable fintech firms with whom Aegon Life may tie up, he said it is a "work in progress".
The company already has a tie-up with policybazaar.com, an online platform to compare insurance polices.
Aegon Life new premium collection more than doubled to Rs 9.37 crore in October 2017, from Rs 4.35 crore in the same month a year ago, according to data from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai).
During April-October 2017-18, the new premium grew by 74.4 per cent to Rs 58.85 crore, from the earlier Rs 33.74 crore.
In 2016-17, the insurer's overall new premium collection, however, slipped 33 per cent to Rs 91.42 crore, from Rs 136.33 crore in 2015-16, according to the Irdai data.

Aegon life sells term and health insurance, unit-linked insurance plans (ULIPs), savings and retirement plans, child, rural and group insurance schemes.