BRI Life relies on bancassurance channels amidst increasing demand for insurance

As of November 2023, the bancassurance channel contributed 81% of BRI Life’s total premium revenue.

Bright prospects for life insurance this year are moving BRI Life to optimising its bancassurance segment. Sutadi, BRI Life’s marketing director, told Insurance Asia that the company aims to increase bancassurance penetration in existing segments by 30% and expand customer segmentation towards the Ultra Micro (Umi) sector to mitigate the risk of revenue concentration in one customer segment.

Data from the Indonesian Life Insurance Association (AAJI) indicated that the number of insured lives grew by 16.5% annually until September 2023.

This data also noted that the highest premium income came from the bancassurance channel, amounting to IDR77.13 trillion ($4.8b), compared to IDR57.22 trillion ($3.6b) from the agency channel and IDR43.31 trillion ($2.72b) from alternative channels.

For BRI Life, the bancassurance channel contributed 81% of its total premium revenue  as of November 2023. 

“Based on AAJI's 2024 outlook, the life insurance sector is estimated to experience a rebound in premium income from the previous year’s total premium income contraction due to challenges related to market education on insurance products and the Financial Services Authority’s (OJK) letter regarding tightening sales of unit-linked products,” said Sutadi.

Three strategies

What BRI Life is focused on continuing, according to Sutadi, is the strengthening of its position as a life insurance company by improving on three aspects: people, process, and product.

“In terms of people, this Bank BRI subsidiary will continue to increase the number of marketers to ensure that the services provided are widely and inclusively available,” he said.

As of August 2023, BRI Life has around 2,000 marketers in the bancassurance channel, with 60% of them located in Java and the rest in other places.

In terms of process, Sutadi said: “BRI Life will continue to improve operational services through system integration and the provision of specialized health services aimed at their customers.” This integration being referred to is with the parent company’s super app, BRImo.

Furthermore, in terms of product, BRI Life will also expand its customer segmentation supported by product availability in the targeted segments and product suitability for customer needs.

“An inclusive service approach to potential customers through products that meet their needs is one of our efforts to ensure that customers can experience real benefits from the insurance ecosystem,” he said.

BRI Life targets several segments, namely micro, retail, and priority segments. For micro customer segments, for example, BRI Life provides Micro Insurance products under its Accident, Health, and Death Micro Insurance (AMKM) offerings with premiums of IDR50,000 ($3.15) per year.

This AMKM insurance product is marketed by BRILink agents spread across various locations including small stores.

For retail customer segments, BRI Life provides longer-term protection insurance within a period of five years. This product is designed by BRI Life acknowledging the nature of bank customers who prefer shorter-term periods.

Finally, the priority customer segments, which include middle to upper-class customers, are assured of BRI Life’s convenience facilities to support their lifestyles. Examples of these are insurance products with critical illness coverage as well as life insurance products with investment options.

Synergy

BRI Life’s marketing expert underscored that the extensive network of their operations coupled with the large number of bank customers provide a strong impetus for BRI Life to continue delivering the best services to its customers.

“Synergy with BRI is achieved through placing marketers alongside BRI offices to reach customers inclusively,” he said.

Furthermore, Sutadi mentioned that BRI Life continues to enhance system integration with BRI to make the services provided more effective and efficient for customers.

Throughout 2023, BRI Life recorded a 64.3% annual growth in net profit to IDR501.12 billion ($31.5m) from the previous period’s IDR305 billion ($19.2m).

The capital adequacy ratio of PT Asuransi BRI Life remains strong, with BRI Life recording a Risk Based Capital (RBC) of 524.0% as of December 2023. This RBC is well above the OJK's minimum requirement of 120%.