Lack of Training Impacting Bancassurance Sales

riskinfo.com.au | August 5, 2010

"Gaps in the availability and effectiveness of bank salesperson training is contributing to reduced levels of life insurance business being written through Australia’s major banks, says a recent study.

According to RGA Reinsurance Australia’s 2010 Australia Bancassurance Study, bancassurance in Australia is well-entrenched, but is subject to what the study refers to as ’significant growth challenges.’

The study also identifies a gap in the availability and effectiveness of client data mining technology which, when combined with the lack of sales training, have an impact on prospecting of sales leads and the actual selling of life insurance business.

According to the study’s authors, specialist bancassurance consulting firm, C F Effron, the impact on bank customers of this gap in training and technology translates into a lack of awareness:  ”Bank customers are still less aware than expected that they can buy life insurance through their banks."

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Bancassurance in South Africa is expanding — yet significant cultural gaps remain between banks and life insurers

FAnews South Africa | May 2010

"Banks and life insurers in South Africa agree that bank customers are more aware of bancassurance today than they were three years ago, yet significant challenges remain as the two industries work together to sell insurance through banking channels, according to the 2010 South Africa Bancassurance and Credit Life Study “Bridging the Cultural Divide Between Banks and Life Insurers.™

The study, sponsored by RGA Reinsurance Company of South Africa (RGA South Africa), was conducted by C F Effron Company, LLC, in the first quarter of 2010. It compared and contrasted the opinions of 18 banks and life insurers regarding various aspects of bancassurance. A similar bancassurance study in South Africa was sponsored by RGA in 2007."

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Are insurers and bankers on the same page?

FAnews South Africa | April 2010

"The report is compiled by an independent US-based bank insurance consultancy firm, C F Effron Company LLC. Company president Carmen Effron was on hand to discuss the findings after a survey of South African companies, including 13 insurers and five affiliated banks. An identical questionnaire was sent to participating banks and insurers in which they were asked to respond to a range of statements using the familiar 1 to 5 scale. The average response from banks is then subtracted from that of insurers to reveal a ‘gap’ which indicates how far apart bank and insurance thinking is. A ‘gap’ of more than 1.0 points indicates a significant culture divergence. The overarching objective of the research is to answer the question: How do we make banks and insurers work more effectively together? “They’re two very different businesses – they do things in different ways – but they do have a common purpose,” says Effron."

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White House Policy May Lift Banks' Annuity Sales

American Banker | Jan 27, 2010

Analysts applauded the initiative and said it could significantly increase annuity assets this year and beyond. Carmen Effron of C F Effron Co. LLC in Weston, Conn., called it a "stamp of approval" for the annuity industry.

"Any time you get the government behind a program, it is an enormous boost for business," she said. "Think about what happened with IRAs and HSAs when the government supported them. Any time the government takes an interest in a financial product, there is an influx of information and publicity. People are going to be talking annuities, and this creates a tremendous opportunities for individual annuity carriers."

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Bank Insurance Marketing to the Middle Market Consumer

The Official Society of Actuaries e-newsletter of the Marketing and Distribution Council | January 2010
By Carmen F. Effron

"Forget what you hear about the banks' eminent demise, there are still over 8,100 banks doing business in the United States. To be fair, the top 10 have 50 percent of all the assets and the top three have 33 percent of the assets; however all of the banks regardless of size are dealing with the middle market consumer every day. Are the largest banks in the country distributing insurance to the middle market; the answer is yes.

From the banks' perspective the middle market consumer can be anyone where annual household (HH) income is above $35,000 and up to $150,000. LIMRA uses HH annual income from $35,000 to $99,999 and ages 25 to 64 as the middle market and estimates 41 million U.S. HH fall into this category. President Obama's definition concentrates on defining the highest level of annual income for the middle market as $250,000. In a recent nationalpayrollweek.com survey of close to 40,000 adults, 57 percent said that this top income level is too high and should be lower, while 32 percent of the people surveyed agreed with the Obama standard. Obviously, there is no set classification of the middle market consumer, so for this article we will use the LIMRA definition of middle market."

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