Prudential Vietnam and VIB extend strategic cooperation agreement until 2036, opening a new chapter for bank-linked insurance in Vietnam

The extension of the strategic cooperation agreement on insurance distribution through banks (bancassurance) aims to realize the two companies' goal of strengthening customer trust, strongly promoting the development trend of the "new generation of bancassurance", contributing to the health and sustainable development of the insurance business through banks in Vietnam.

This cooperation agreement is an important milestone in the bilateral cooperation relationship, helping to establish new standards for the bancassurance channel in Vietnam, with notable changes, specifically:

For the first time, the quality of sales consulting and contract service is built into the agreement by establishing a minimum “contract retention rate” and gradually increasing it to the ideal rate.

For the first time, a “Customer Conduct Standards Management Committee” was established between the two partners, setting out criteria and sanctions to manage and monitor issues related to sales consulting and customer care, while also making quality monitoring calls and verifying customer demand information.

For the first time, the agreement to sell only the right insurance products to the right customer groups is included in the partnership contract through the allocation of product portfolio proportions and customer groups.

Mr. Phuong Tien Minh - General Director of Prudential Vietnam shared: “The Life Insurance market in Vietnam is still quite new with nearly 25 years of development, in which the bancassurance channel has only really recorded strong growth from 2016 to present. This strong growth has helped us see many opportunities to improve products, services and sales quality. We are proud to have a partner with the same vision as VIB . The extension of the cooperation agreement between Prudential and VIB until 2036 is part of the plan of both parties, demonstrating a common commitment to putting customers at the center, focusing on improving the quality of distribution channels, leading the cooperation channel through banks to develop more sustainably”.

“This new cooperation extension is an important milestone in the strategic partnership between the two parties with the expectation of setting a new generation of bancassurance standards in Vietnam. These important changes related to the quality of distribution channels and customer experience demonstrate our seriousness and commitment to sustainable development in accordance with the Government's direction, while creating positive changes for the Life Insurance market in general and the banking cooperation channel in particular, thereby helping the Life Insurance industry to better promote its role in economic development and social security,” added Mr. Phuong Tien Minh.

Mr. Han Ngoc Vu - General Director of Vietnam International Bank (VIB) said, “With the vision of becoming the most innovative and customer-oriented bank in Vietnam, VIB identifies its strategic priority as providing comprehensive financial solutions to meet the increasing demands of the Vietnamese people. An important orientation is to provide customers with options in both risk insurance and ensuring long-term and sustainable financial plans. Distributing Prudential insurance products through banks is one of the options we bring to customers. Prudential is a large international corporation, with leading prestige in the world, a model enterprise with a strong commitment to the Vietnamese market, they have good insurance products, policies, processes and coordination mechanisms that are very transparent and professional. With this choice, we have seriously invested on a large scale with innovative service solutions as well as widely applying technology to advise and provide solutions that meet customer needs, as well as Continuously improve processes and service quality”.

“The extension of the strategic cooperation term with Prudential demonstrates the commitment of both parties towards a sustainable insurance market development in line with the direction of State management agencies, while continuing to bring opportunities for us to better serve customers, expand retail business activities and affirm VIB's goal of becoming the leading retail bank," Mr. Han Ngoc Vu added.

Since its establishment, the Vietnamese insurance industry has made positive contributions to the realization of the country's socio-economic development goals. By the end of April 2023, insurance companies had reinvested an estimated VND 708.4 trillion into the economy, and the insurance industry is expected to reach a scale of about 3 - 3.3% of GDP by 2025.

In 2022, the entire Life Insurance industry is paying over 42 trillion VND, of which Prudential accounts for 25% of the total payment amount with nearly 9,600 billion VND. More than 1,600 billion VND has been paid for more than 150,000 cases with benefits for death, total and permanent disability, critical illness and medical care services, an increase of 35% compared to 2021. In the Bancassurance channel alone at Prudential, the number of payments and the amount of insurance benefits increased by 64% and 69% respectively compared to 2021, showing that the protection needs of customers through banks are increasing.

On VIB's side, when implementing the bancassurance model, the Bank's top concern is to ensure the input quality of the consultant team and control the consulting quality through specific processes and regulations on the basis of ensuring general principles. At the same time, in order to promptly record and answer customer questions and improve consulting quality, the Bank also widely deploys after-sales activities such as: random probability visits, updating financial milestones and other activities. From January 1, 2023, the two partners have coordinated to deploy calls from the insurance hotline to 100% of new bancassurance customers to check the quality of consultants, from which there are monthly reports on consultant quality.

In the coming time, the two partners will simultaneously coordinate to promote training, coaching and supervision of employees, and communications so that the market has more complete information about the characteristics of insurance products; continue to accompany customers to remove obstacles to bring the best possible experience to customers and continuously improve service quality./.

Press Contact:

Prudential Vietnam

Nguyen Thi Thanh Phuong

+84 (0) 917071105

VIB

Bui Thi Hong Thanh +84 (0) 902 911 194

About Prudential Vietnam

Prudential Vietnam Life Insurance Company Limited (Prudential) is a member of Prudential plc, a group providing life insurance, health insurance and wealth management solutions in 24 markets across Asia and Africa. Prudential's purpose is to help people achieve the best in life. Prudential provides comprehensive and affordable healthcare solutions, helps protect and grow wealth, and helps people save for their life goals.

With 24 years of operation in Vietnam, Prudential has continuously focused on expanding the life insurance market, changing people's perception of insurance. As of December 2022, Prudential Vietnam has developed a team of more than 126,000 professional consultants, with more than 328 General Agency offices, Transaction offices and Customer Service Centers, and a network of 7 reputable partner banks, always ready to serve more than 2.1 million customers nationwide.

With the slogan “Listen. Understand. Act.”, Prudential affirms its commitment to always put customers at the center of all activities, providing creative and comprehensive solutions to protect financial security, helping customers increase their assets and proactively take control of their life plans.

About VIB Bank

Vietnam International Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VIB) was established in 1996. Currently headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City, VIB is the bank with the highest retail concentration in Vietnam, with 90% of outstanding loans serving the needs of retail customers. Through a network of 178 branches spanning more than 30 provinces and cities, and the MyVIB 2.0 digital banking application with advanced technology, VIB is serving more than 4.5 million retail customers and tens of thousands of businesses in Vietnam. By the end of 2022, VIB will continue to maintain its leading position in the industry: top 1 market share of Mastercard card spending in Vietnam with 33% market share, regularly leading the trend in card technology, top 2 market share of Bancassurance and top 3 market share of auto loans. VIB currently has 11,000 employees, total assets reaching over 350 trillion VND. CBA, one of the 10 largest banks in terms of capitalization globally, is currently the largest shareholder of VIB with an ownership ratio of nearly 20%.

With the vision of "becoming the most innovative and customer-oriented bank in Vietnam", VIB always strives to improve quality and efficiency to bring quality services and products, along with perfect experiences to users.