Zurich and ADCB’s Simplylife sign five-year exclusive agreement to distribute life insurance in the UAE

Sunday 12 June 2016
Walter Jopp, Zurich Global Life MEA CEO

Dubai - MENA Herald: Zurich Global Life, Middle East & Africa (Zurich) and Simplylife from Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) have signed a five-year strategic cooperation to market and distribute protection products through Simplylife’s distribution network in the UAE.

Simplylife is a sub brand of ADCB launched two years ago and has established itself as a consumer finance brand focusing on providing simple, fast and accessible financial solutions with a primary focus on the mass market segment.

Zurich and Simplylife have identified a significant gap of life insurance and personal protection penetration in the mass market, which will be catered to by offering Zurich's products to Simplylife’s customers. Zurich's protection products will enhance the existing product offerings available to Simplylife customers and provide additional value to its core banking product offering.

Sundar Parthasarathy, Head of New Business at ADCB Bank, stated: “We have recently added Bancassurance to our range of products in order to cater to the latent demand of insurance and protection products for the mass market segment. A suite of products will be launched through an exclusive and first-of-its-kind cooperation with Zurich and will be run through our Simplylife channels, a distribution model, which allows for higher engagement with our customers. This cooperation will further reinforce Simplylife's strategy to offer products that are simple and flexible and add considerable value to our customers. With this cooperation, Simplylife will be able to offer best-in-class insurance solutions aligned with the protection needs of our customers.”

Zurich Global Life MEA CEO, Walter Jopp, said: “Zurich is a bancassurance expert in the Middle East, offering our products to customers through strategic cooperation with major retail banks. We are delighted to formalise our relationship with Simplylife from ADCB by signing this agreement - the start of a productive and long lasting alliance. Zurich has been providing life insurance in the Middle East for almost 30 years and we look forward to sharing our experience and expertise with Simplylife's retail bank team. Simplylife has a great customer-centric focus and the alliance will allow us to add value to our customers’ financial needs.”

A survey conducted by Zurich in 2014 showed almost two-thirds (64 per cent) of UAE residents do not have a life insurance policy that would protect their family’s financial future in the event of the death of the primary salary earner. What is most concerning about this survey is that 60 per cent of residents with children do not have life insurance.

This strategic alliance brings protection products closer to the mass market, which is currently under-penetrated in terms of protection.

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