(left to right) Insurance Regulator of Cambodia’s Bou Chanphirou, NBC’s Lon Sam Ol, Prudential Cambodia’s Sanjay Chakrabarty, ACLEDA Bank President In Channy and ACLEDA”s COO So Phonnary. Supplied
Prudential Cambodia and ACLEDA Bank have been celebrating their nine-year partnership at an event attended by representatives from the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) and the insurance regulator.
Prudential and ACLEDA cooperate to provide life insurance policies in all 262 of the bank’s branches.
“We are here to make healthcare, to make financial protection, accessible to all in the deepest of provinces and not just in the cities,” said Prudential Cambodia Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Chakrabarty. “When we started in 2013, we saw tremendous growth in this partnership. Come 2019 the industry took a pause and we worked with the regulators through the insurance association to figure out how we could serve our customers even better. Having completed the process successfully we have emerged with a lot of clarity. We know where we want to go with this partnership. We are very optimistic about what the future holds for us and we are willing to serve millions and millions in this country.”
ACLEDA is Cambodia’s biggest commercial bank. Chakrabarty said ACLEDA has grown in Cambodia by staying relevant to the community and Prudential has a similar goal. “This partnership is ready for another step change and this time the step change will come in the form of a digital revamp,” he said.
Prudential has come up with a prototype insurance ATM, which it hopes to roll out across the country. “It highlights our vision and commitment to help all in this country and make sure that they have access to healthcare and financial protection no matter where they live or who they are.” ACLEDA President In Channy said the bank’s nine-year partnership had been successful in helping Cambodians achieve long-term financial goals, particularly planning for their children’s education and their retirement plans.
“Our success in 2021 was turning our main 43 branches into 101 branches. The top 20 branches achieved immense results,” Channy said. “ We hope more branches will achieve results like the top 20 branches.” He said ACLEDA plans to strengthen its partnership with Prudential Cambodia to provide insurance services to customers across the country.
“We want to encourage partnerships for all insurers and banks to have an efficient model to provide insurance to Cambodian people and want all parties to collaborate more closely together,” said Lon Sam Ol, Director of the Inspection Department at the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC).
“ACLEDA Bank has many products to increase transactions for their customers and there is a model for ACLEDA to be the insurance referrer for Prudential. This collaboration will help to develop the economy by giving insurance to the public to give them protection and give them more knowledge of insurance.”
Sovannorak said the economy had become very stable under the leadership of Prime Minister Hun Sen.
“In this context of progress the insurance sector is developing very fast to help the public gain trust in insurance in Cambodia. The NBC always tries its best to help insurers and banks by providing them secure and safe transactions,” he said “We hope that ACLEDA and Prudential will continue to collaborate efficiently and more closely and comply with the National Bank to ensure that they have more policies for customers, I hope the public will use more services at Prudential and have more trust in the insurance service,” he said.
The insurance sector is key element of national security, according to Bou Chanphirou, Director General of the Insurance Regulator of Cambodia
“The Cambodian insurance sector has increased very rapidly,” he said. “Even though we were hit by the Covid-19 outbreak the insurance sector in Cambodia increased by $270 million in 2020 and $300 million by 2021. There are now 40 life insurers in Cambodia with 22 banks or microfinance partners to provide insurance to the public.” There is still a big opportunity for insurers to grow in Cambodia, since the sector only has a penetration rate of 0.1 percent with insurance per head at only $17 per person, he said.
Source: Khmer Times