Bancassurance tie-up between Allianz Bajaj, Syndicate Bank

Pune: Allianz Bajaj and Syndicate Bank has launched its bancassurance operations from today. This coincides with the celebration of the 'Founders Day' of Syndicate Bank.

Says Syndicate Bank chairman and managing director Michael Bastian: "Our agreement with Allianz Bajaj was formalised on 24 July 2003. We have been working very, very closely since then to consolidate and benefit from each other's mutual strengths. The synergies that our teams share are truly inspiring and at this pace, I feel confident that we will achieve our business goals faster than we predicted."

In the first phase of the rollout plan, Syndicate Bank plans to enable at least 200 of its 1,750 branches to sell Allianz Bajaj policies. This will be implemented through a special team of Syndicate Bank professionals that will be trained by Allianz Bajaj in the best practices of life 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. Syndicate Bank has constituted a special marketing team to spearhead the bancassurance initiative in close coordination with Allianz Bajaj.

This partnership is expected to generate significant returns. The bank targets to collect first premium income of Rs 2 crore during the first six months of the launch of operations.

Allianz is one of the world's leading bancassurance providers, with 26 current bancassurance agreements in place around the world. Through these agreements, Allianz products are sold through over 15,000 bank branches globally.

Says Allianz Bajaj Life Insurance CEO James Walton: "We have one of the most successful bancassurance models and a team of professionals with extensive local and international bancassurance experience. Allianz Bajaj is committed to the route of selective tie-ups and Syndicate Bank is a valuable partner for us. Syndicate Bank is one of the most progressive and successful public sector banks in India. They have a customer base of nearly 2 crore which represents a significant opportunity for distribution of life insurance products."