OCBC, Great Eastern collaborate in bancassurance

OCBC Malaysia will grow its bancasurance business by distributing Great Eastern Life Assurance developed products through its 29 conventional banking branches. This is made possible by the partnership formed between the two groups in the area of bancassurance following the recent liberalisation of the financial services sector in Malaysia.

This move is also in line with the Group's focus on seeking stronger growth opportunities and deepening market penetration in the country under its New Horizons II strategy.

The range of products selected for distribution will be assessed to ensure that they meet the different lifestyle and life stage needs of the Bank's retail customers. For a start, OCBC Malaysia will distribute MaxMoney Plus and MaxMoney Back which are two insurance products from Great Eastern Life Assurance Malaysia.

"By leveraging on our strategic relationship with Great Eastern Holdings to cross-sell products that meet the diverse needs of our customers, we have successfully increased our market share in Singapore over the years, to achieve and maintain our leading bancassurance position," said Mr Andrew Lee, OCBC Bank's Head of Global Consumer Financial Services.

"We launched bancassurance in Malaysia in 2003. Following the implementation of the new liberalisation rules, we can now work with our subsidiary Great Eastern in Malaysia to grow our bancassurance business across the causeway. We look forward to transferring successful business models and product solutions from Singapore to Malaysia. Our customers in Malaysia will soon have access to a wide array of bancassurance products and services that meets their needs," he added.

Previous collaboration efforts between OCBC Bank Malaysia and Great Eastern Life Assurance Malaysia have been focused on the marketing of OCBC Bank Malaysia's credit cards and home loans to the customers of Great Eastern Life Assurance Malaysia. Both entities first started working together to distribute OCBC Bank Malaysia's credit cards to Great Eastern Life Assurance Malaysia's customer base in 2002.