|
Cholamandalam MS enters into a strategic
partnership with IndusInd Bank
- Bank to focus on motor, health, travel and home
insurance products for its wealth management services
- Property insurance for SME Customers
Chennai 15 November, 2007: Cholamandalam
MS, General Insurance Co. Ltd. (Chola MS), a joint venture between
Murugappa Group and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance of Japan, today announced
a bancassurance tie-up with IndusInd Bank, one of the leading new-generation
private-sector banks in India.
Through this alliance, Cholamandalam MS will get the
support of a bank which has strong goodwill in the retail markets
with a sizeable client base and in turn IndusInd Bank will complete
its array of products required for its wealth management services
to its customers. This partnership is expected to generate significant
returns targeting the first premium income of Rs 100 crore after
one year of the launch of operations.
Bhaskar Ghose, Managing Director and CEO, IndusInd
Bank, said, "The alliance will benefit all concerned. Our customers
will now be able to access a full range of insurance products delivered
efficiently at acceptable prices. This will have the twin advantages
of strengthening our relationship with existing customers and helping
us acquire new clients. We expect to make this bancassuarance model
a successful one with our expanding distribution network, our growing
customer base, our technology strengths, and our service - oriented
staff."
"We are proud of our exclusive bancassurance
partnership with IndusInd Bank which has an extensive distribution
reach to strengthen our position in the retail market," said
Mr. Anandan, Managing Director, Cholamandalam MS General Insurance
Co. Ltd. "The increased economic activity coupled with the
recent reforms in the general insurance market has increased the
"Insurance Penetration" by 4.8 per cent in 2006, virtually
doubling in the last seven years. This continuous growth will help
the tie-up to reap the benefits of this untapped market," he
added.
In the first phase of the rollout plan, IndusInd Bank
plans to enable at least 150 of its 172 branches to sell Cholamandalam
MS policies. This will be implemented through a special team of
IndusInd Bank professionals who will be trained by Cholamandalam
MS in the best practices of insurance selling.
These officers will also complete the mandatory 100-hour
Insurance Regulatory Development Authority training and will be
designated as 'insurance executives' at branches. IndusInd Bank
has constituted a special marketing team to spearhead the bancassurance
initiative in close coordination with Cholamandalam MS.
This tie-up will aid IndusInd Bank in launching
various group policies that will offer a competitive price and value-adds
in addition to the individual market offerings. The tie up will
also enhance the fee earnings capacity of the Bank significantly.
About Cholamandalam MS General
Insurance Company
(Chola MS)
Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Ltd. is a Joint Venture
between the Murugappa Group, and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group
of Japan. Cholamandalam MS offers a wide range of products that
include Accident, Engineering, Health, Liability, Marine, Motor,
and Property, Travel and Rural insurance for individuals, SME and
corporate.
About the Murugappa Group
Headquartered in Chennai, the USD 2 billion (Rs.8500
crore) Murugappa Group is India's leading business conglomerate.
Market leaders in diverse areas of business including engineering,
abrasives, finance, general insurance, sanitary-ware, cycles, sugar,
farm inputs, fertilisers, plantations, bio-products and nutraceuticals,
its 29 registered companies have manufacturing facilities spread
across 14 states in India. The organization fosters an environment
of professionalism and has a workforce of over 30,000 employees.
The Group has forged strong joint venture alliances
with leading international companies like Roca, Cargill, DBS Bank,
Mitsui Sumitomo and Groupe Chimique Tunisien and has consolidated
its status as one of the fastest growing diversified business houses
in India
About Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance
Company (MSI)
Mitsui Sumitomo is the second largest Insurance Group in Japan,
with a Net Written Premium (NWP) of 12.46 billion USD in 2006. The
Company has 729 sales bases, 257 claims handling offices and about
59000 agents throughout Japan. MS also offers its services globally
with 52 sales bases in 38 countries and regions overseas. Mitsui
Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd. was recently awarded the "General
Insurance Company of the Year" Award at the 9th Asia Insurance
Industry Award ceremony held in Singapore. This has been awarded
to MSI for being the most active non-life insurance company and
for reaching the top of the foreign non-life insurers in the region.
About IndusInd Bank
IndusInd Bank Ltd. is one of the leading new-generation
private-sector banks in India, which commenced its operations in
1994. The Bank recently had a successful GDR issue and its net worth
touched Rs. 1092 crore as on September 30, 2007. The Bank posted
a total business turnover of Rs.29,714 crore (as on September 30,
2007) and is poised for greater growth in the years ahead. Its network
expansion received a fillip with the Bank securing 40 authorizations
from Reserve Bank of India for new branches and 100 offsite ATMs
in the last calendar year. The Bank currently has a network of 172
branches, spread over 141 geographical locations in 27 states and
union territories across the country. The remaining 8 authorisations
will be used shortly and the total number of branches would reach
180. In addition, IndusInd Bank also has a representative office
each in Dubai and London.
Driven by technology, IndusInd constantly upgrades its support systems
for the introduction of retail banking products and alternative
delivery channels. The Bank continues to display its commitment
to global benchmarks in technology, as testified by its winning
the prestigious IBA Award for the year 2006 (Runner Up) for the
Overall Implementation of Straight Through Processing between various
systems. Since the merger of Ashok Leyland Finance in June 2004,
the Bank has expanded its retail portfolio. It is a large player
in the financing of commercial vehicles, utility vehicles, 2/3-wheelers
and construction equipment. It is one of the first banks to go live
on the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) initiative of RBI. It enjoys
clearing bank status for both major stock exchanges - BSE and NSE
and three major commodity exchanges in the country - MCX, NCDEX,
and NMCE. It also offers DP facilities for stock and commodity segments.
IndusInd Bank has been awarded the highest A1+ rating for its Certificates
of Deposits by ICRA and the highest P1+ rating for its FDs by CRISIL,
which has also assigned the highest safety ratings to the Bank's
Pass through Certificates for securitized assets.
For more details on this release, contact:
Shivakumar Shankar
Sr. Vice President - Retail Insurance
Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company
Tel: 044 43995425
S N Pai
Executive Vice President,
IndusInd Bank Ltd.
Tel: 022 66412237
top
|
