China to further promote insurance cross-selling
Updated: 2008-03-18 16:45
Cross selling of property and life insurance products are expected to go beyond insurance groups, according to the 2008 outline on insurance intermediaries issued by the insurance watchdog.
The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) lifted the ban on cross selling of property and life insurance last year, but the business could only be carried out within the insurance groups themselves.
After the policy change, insurers with both life and property & casualty insurance subsidiaries, such as China Life Insurance (Group) Company, the People's Insurance Company (Group) of China (PICC) and Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China Limited, all started cross selling.
Now the CIRC plans to extend cross-selling of insurance across different insurance companies instead of restricting the business within the insurance groups.
Life and property insurances are highly complementary, so such a pattern of cross selling can utilize each other's resources and channels to deliver diversified products and services, as well as lower their costs.
Cross sales are viewed as a new sales channel by insurance giants in addition to personal insurance, group insurance, and bancasurance.
Li Liangwen, president of PICC Life Insurance, said cross selling will become an important source of income for the company in the future. The company's premium revenues from cross selling totaled 100 million yuan (US$14.12 million) in January of this year.
China Life Property and Casualty Insurance Co Ltd will also accelerate the development of its cross selling business.
According to the outline, the CIRC will also guide insurance intermediaries to seek in-depth partnership with insurers, support listing of qualified insurance intermediaries and encourage various forms of capital into insurance intermediaries as well.