DBS Bank and Manulife launch new partnership
On 5 January, DBS Bank and Manulife Financial Asia announced the official launch of their new 15-year regional bancassurance tie-up, which will cover Singapore, Hong Kong and China. Also announced at the launch was co-funding of up to US$70.16 million to be invested across the term of the partnership in digital technology and ‘innovation enhancements’.
“With the establishment of the joint fund,” said Tan Su Shan, group head of consumer banking and wealth management for DBS Bank, “we will be able to focus on the development of innovative solutions to serve Asia’s fast-growing consumer base, and help them to fulfil their retirement and insurance needs.” It will be imperative, she added, to ensure that customers’ digital journeys are ‘seamless’, and where consumers are concerned, a shift towards mobile platforms needs to be observed.
According to Manulife’s chief financial officer Steve Roder, at present Asia accounts for over 30 per cent of the company’s earnings, and he expects that the new bancassurance partnership will ‘add materially to its insurance sales in Asia from the first year’ and broaden its footprint in the region ‘significantly’. The approximately six million retail, wealth and SME customers of DBS will now have access to Manulife’s suite of health and life solutions, via its 200-strong branch network, sales force and online platforms.