AIA Insurance building pathways for a digitally enabled bancassurance platform with Commercial Bank of Ceylon

AIA Sri Lanka, a part of AIA Group, World’s Largest Life Insurer (by market capitalisation) entered into a digitally robust bancassurance partnership with Commercial Bank of Ceylon, Sri Lanka’s largest private bank. This partnership combines AIA’s compelling propositions, its digital expertise and proven bancassurance expertise with Commercial Bank’s network of more than 268 branches across Sri Lanka and its valued customer base.

The relationship is intended to go beyond an ordinary bancassurance relationship and facilitate a digitally enabled bancassurance platform. It will offer Commercial Bank’s customers and employees a range of innovative products and an ecosystem of vital financial advice on their protection, long-term savings and retirement planning needs with the best of AIA’s experience and expertise in Asia.

As a pioneer in bancassurance, AIA will apply its in-branch sales expertise, leading point-of-sale technology and broad product range across Commercial Bank’s customer base. Commercial Bank of Ceylon is Sri Lanka’s largest private bank with a customer base that has significant potential to deepen life and health insurance penetration. This will further strengthen AIA’s competitive advantage in the industry.

Both AIA and Commercial Bank are longstanding partners of the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Under the IFC-DFAT Women in Work program, Commercial Bank previously entered into an MOU offering exclusive insurance solutions for the Bank’s Anagi account holders to ensure financial security for women in Sri Lanka.

“We are truly excited to partner as a preferred insurer with Commercial Bank which is the largest private bank in Sri Lanka. Our bancassurance partnership with Commercial Bank brings together two trusted financial institutions with a long history of operating in Sri Lanka to build on the significant progress already achieved and increase the penetration of life and health insurance across Sri Lanka. It is also another timely forward step in our endeavour to provide the bank’s customers with opportunities that add greater protection and value to their lives through our range of need-based insurance solutions,” said Chathuri Munaweera, Chief Executive Officer/ Executive Director of AIA Insurance.

Sanath Manatunge, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Commercial Bank said, “As Sri Lanka’s largest private bank, our customers come to rely on us to deliver world class products and services that offer value to them. By partnering with Sri Lanka’s best life insurer, we will be able to offer our customers access to high quality, tailored life insurance products and services that offer protection suited to their needs. We are pleased to tie up with AIA Insurance, a trusted company with a strong reputation and are confident that these services will strengthen the relationship with our customers.”

The new partnership arrangements will be implemented initially in Colombo and its suburbs and spread out to all Commercial Bank branches in gradual stages.