PRU LIFE UK will be entering the credit card business through a partnership with Robinsons Bank Corp.

“Very soon we will be rolling it (credit cards) out. Right now, we expect it maybe next month. We have been rolling out the applications to our customers now,” Allan M. Tumbaga, senior vice-president and chief marketing officer at Pru Life, said at an online briefing on Wednesday.

Mr. Tumbaga said they will release more details on the cards soon, noting the product will be exclusive to their clients.

The credit cards will be issued by Robinsons Bank. The insurer and the lender have been in a bancassurance partnership since 2018.

Meanwhile, Mr. Tumbaga said they are still studying if they will offer more products especially meant to protect clients from the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

He said with vaccination rates rising, the virus might evolve and become just like the common flu. In this case, Mr. Tumbaga said COVID-19 could be a part of regular insurance products, like those covering critical illnesses.

“Specific packages [for COVID-19], that’s always a consideration now… We do expect to expand our roster of services,” he said.

Moving forward, Mr. Tumbaga expects insurance take-up to continue growing, although not as fast as expansion seen before the pandemic, as people have realized the need for protection.

“The younger people are even much more interested now than ever considering the pandemic showed that anything can happen to you. So it’s best to be prepared always,” he said.

In 2020, Pru Life UK recorded the second- highest net premiums in the life insurance sector worth P30.98 billion, based on data from the Insurance Commission.

Its net income of P3.27 billion was the fourth biggest in the industry last year, while it ranked fifth in terms of its assets with P117 billion. — L.W.T. Noble

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