Singlife Philippines to roll out initial products in April
DIGITAL-ONLY life insurance firm Singlife Philippines is targeting to launch its initial products by April and capture half a million clients in the next five years, after the Insurance Commission (IC) approved its license to operate on Monday.
Singapore Life Philippines CEO Rien Hermans said the firm’s license was approved on Monday after it submitted its requirements in December and they were audited last month. He said the firm, which mainly uses digital front-end and cloud-based systems, will launch in the second half its “direct-to-customer proposition.”
“We expect to launch our first products in April through one of our partners and in the second part of the year expect to launch our direct to customer proposition following the design of the Singlife account launched last November in Singapore,” Mr. Hermans said in a mobile phone message Monday.
According to him, Singlife Philippines will offer “fairly priced, easy to understand and affordable” insurance products to the market, especially for the first-time policyholders.
“At the moment we are very busy building our systems and developing refreshing customer propositions to make life insurance coverage available for everyone,” he said.
Insurance Commissioner Dennis B. Funa said the entry of Singlife Philippines will “generate interest” among the public as it serves as the first or a “pioneer” in fully digital insurance services in the country.
“It will be a game changer in the field of insurtech,” Mr. Funa said on Tuesday.
In December last year, Singapore Life Private Ltd. (Singlife) partnered with Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) to form the new joint venture company Singlife Philippines, where the majority or 65% is owned by Singlife and with partners Di-Firm and AEV owning 20% and 15%, respectively.
Mr. Hermans had said they are equipped to comply with the required P1-billion capital for life insurers and is ready to invest needed funds for their business. However, it did not disclose the exact amount of its investment in the country. — Beatrice M. Laforga
