Business Desk :
The Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) on Tuesday published a set of guidelines, which outlined the appointment of corporate agents by commercial banks for partnering with insurance companies.
This follows a previous circular on the matter by the Bangladesh Bank.
The new guideline titled ‘Corporate Agent (Bancassurance) Guideline – 2023’ allows banks to directly sell insurance products to their customers.
Under its provisions, each bank can offer a maximum of three life and three non-life insurance products under its umbrella.
Obtaining a corporate agent licence for Bancassurance activities will require banks to pay a Tk 50,000 fee to the IDRA, valid for three years.
While banks can sell all types of life insurance products, they are restricted to specific non-life categories: motor, travel, health and crop insurance.
This Bancassurance model will be a direct sale method, which will see banks utilizing their existing workforce to market insurance products.
To apply for a corporate agent licence, banks must submit the following documents to the Idra: a draft agreement with the partnering insurance company, approval from the Bangladesh Bank and a payment order for the licence fee.