ICICI Prudential Plans Expansion In Tier B And C Cities

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Ltd. has started to look beyond the metros and focus on tier B and C cities to expand its presence, in general, and deepen the gains from bancassurance arrangements, in particular. In an interaction with this correspondent, Tarun Chugh, Chief, Group, Bancassurance & Alliances, said tier B and C cities were grossly under penetrated territories vis-a-vis life insurance. ICICI Prudential was pushing financial product distribution companies hard to open offices in those cities. It was also going in for alliances with regional rural banks, co-operative banks and the like to beef up its bancassurance business. So far, the company had bancassurance tie-ups with 22 institutions. Around 37 per cent of the premium income for ICICI Prudential came from bancassurance route. The company wrote a premium income of around Rs.4,300 in 2006-07. Bancassurance was a tedious model unlike the agency route, where an insurance company controlled everything. The strength of a partner, requirements of a bank client and the level of relationship all mattered in a bancassurance model.