The State Administration of Financial Supervision and Administration recently issued a notice stating that there is no limit on the number of cooperative insurance companies when commercial banks' branches and outlets sell insurance products on a commission basis, but insurance companies should ensure that they have offline service capabilities in their cooperation areas. The Notice has attracted wide attention in the insurance agency industry.
The bancassurance channel used to be one of the important channels of insurance product consignment, especially insurance products with investment attributes such as annuity insurance, dividend insurance and investment linked insurance are star products of the bancassurance channel. However, the hot sales performance is accompanied by marketing chaos. Some marketers exaggerate the investment income of insurance products, and some marketers recommend long-term products that do not meet customer needs. News such as "deposit to insurance" and "bank deposits encounter insurance fraud" are frequently reported. Since 2010, the regulatory authorities have repeatedly issued documents requiring bank outlets to sell insurance products in compliance and strengthen risk management. The number of cooperation between a single bank outlet and insurance companies is also limited to three. On the one hand, the stricter regulatory policies guide insurance companies to design products scientifically and banks to sell insurance products in compliance; On the other hand, it also reduces the disputes arising from insurance, surrender and claims settlement, and protects the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
With the constant standardization of the industry development, insurance products are gradually returning to the source of protection. As the number of agents continues to shrink, the bancassurance channel has become the second curve of premium growth for insurance companies. According to the data disclosed by major listed insurance companies in recent three years, the premium income of bancassurance channels has increased by more than 15%. At the same time, the sales of insurance also brought stable intermediary business income to banks. Observing the annual report data of listed banks in the same period, it can be found that the growth of intermediate business income is closely related to the commission income obtained from selling insurance on a commission basis.
Releasing the restrictions on the number of cooperative insurance companies is not a relaxation of supervision. Insurance companies should further scientifically determine the product fee rate and channel commission level in accordance with the requirements of "newspaper bank integration", avoid vicious competition in the price war of bancassurance channels, and lay a foundation for the healthy development of bancassurance channels. At the same time, the liberalization of the number of cooperative insurance companies has brought more market opportunities to small and medium-sized insurance companies. In contrast, the product design of small and medium-sized insurance companies is more flexible and diversified, and the iteration is faster. If small and medium-sized insurance enterprises can seize the opportunity, focus on differentiated competition, make up for the weakness of sales channels, and actively improve the offline service level, they will usher in a new performance growth curve.
What the bank needs to consider is to optimize the business layout of its outlets and choose an insurance company suitable for its own customer structure. Under the pressure of narrowing interest margin, banks can give full play to their comprehensive financial advantages, increase cooperation with insurance companies, and increase intermediate income to stabilize profit levels. At the same time, the sales of complex financial products are more testing the professional quality and ability of the outlet salespersons. Banks can use insurance consignment as a breakthrough to jointly operate customer resources with insurance companies to achieve synergy and integration of financial business.
With the expansion of sales channels of insurance companies, consumers will have more insurance products to choose from in the bank in the future. They should fully understand their financial situation and capital needs, and rationally choose the insurance products that are suitable for them. For example, in a low interest rate market environment, annuity insurance, dividend insurance and other products can indeed lock in long-term returns, but the liquidity of funds will be limited. Consumers need to comprehensively consider the use of funds, buy long-term insurance with long money, and never mismatch the term.
