In the past, the auto insurance market went through a period of pain due to the "integration of newspapers and banks", and this time it was the turn of the once soaring bancassurance channel. Since August last year, the regulator vigorously promoted the "integration of newspapers and banks" in the bancassurance channel, and the impact on the channel is still continuing.
According to the industry exchange data obtained by "A Smart Insurance", during the "good start" period in the first quarter of this year, the new single premium payment of the industry bancassurance channel was still in a downward channel, and the new single premium income of bancassurance summarized by the whole industry from January to March decreased by 22% year-on-year.
Considering that in the same period of the previous year, the bancassurance channel was in a state of incomparable scenery and cooking oil, and the high base was superimposed on the impact of the implementation of the new regulations, such a downward trend is not surprising.
From the perspective of the operating performance of the bancassurance channel of the main body of the industry, the new single-term premium of the "old seven" bancassurance channels of life insurance in the first quarter collectively showed negative growth, with an average decline of 25%; and the bank-based insurance companies that rely on the bancassurance channel for their survival are at different paces of recovery, with some experiencing negative growth of more than 50% or even more than 70%, while others bucking the trend and increasing by more than 160%.
To a certain extent, this also reflects the divergence of growth positioning and business strategies among insurance companies, for example, companies with stable bancassurance development in the early stage have shown "counter-cyclical" advantages, while most insurance companies are still in the process of transformation and finding new paths. Of course, among the insurance companies that are growing against the trend, there are also path-dependents who hope to "survive" by maintaining growth.
The "old seven" of life insurance have all fallen
The pace of recovery of bank-based insurance companies is uneven
Under the background of the strict implementation of the "integration of newspapers and banks", how will the bancassurance channel perform in 2024?
According to the data, from January to March 2024, the income from new single installment premiums of bancassurance summarized by interbank exchanges was 153.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 22% from 196.4 billion yuan in the same period of the previous year.
Judging from the data of 30 insurance companies focusing on the bancassurance channel, in the first quarter of this year, only 2 of the top 10 insurance companies in the new single-term premium payment of the bancassurance channel stood at the threshold of 10 billion yuan, namely China Post Life Insurance and Dajia Life Insurance, with premium income of 23.29 billion yuan and 10.66 billion yuan respectively. From the perspective of growth rate, as many as 22 of the 30 insurance companies have a year-on-year decline in new single premiums in the bancassurance channel.
In terms of industry entities, the "old seven" life insurance companies, bank-affiliated insurance companies, and other small and medium-sized insurance companies that focus on operating bancassurance channels are often the most sensitive to the "perception" of the survival of bancassurance channels, and they are also the focus and vane of market attention.
First of all, judging from the data of the "old seven" life insurance, in the first quarter of this year, the new single premium income of the "old seven" bancassurance channels fell year-on-year, with an average decline of 25%. Among them, the new single-term premium income of Ping An Life and Taikang Life Insurance fell by more than 30%.
On the one hand, it is not unrelated to the impact of the well-known new policy of "integration of newspapers and banks" in the market, and the "old seven", as the first echelon of the industry, often plays an important role in taking the lead in implementing and preventing the risk of fee loss; on the other hand, the higher premium base of the bancassurance channel in the same period last year also put pressure on the first quarter of this year. At that time, in the market environment of low interest rates, savings insurance represented by increased whole life was selling well in the bancassurance channel, and many insurance companies regarded the bancassurance channel as the main channel for "stable growth".
Different from the general decline in premiums of the bancassurance channel of the "old seven" life insurance companies, in the first quarter of this year, the operating performance of bank-based insurance companies in this channel showed a divergent trend. Among the 10 bank-based insurers, six insurers saw a year-on-year decline in new single-term premium income from bancassurance channels, while the other four bucked the trend.
Specifically, among the insurance companies that declined year-on-year, Bank of China Samsung Life Insurance and Sun Life Everbright Life Insurance fell by 52% and 73% respectively, and among the insurance companies that grew against the trend, a number of joint ventures performed well, among which ABC Life Insurance and Bank of Communications Life Insurance increased by 37% and 52% year-on-year respectively in the first quarter, and Sino-Dutch Life Insurance increased by 165% year-on-year.
The growth rate of the bancassurance channel of bank-based insurance companies is differentiated and stabilized, which to a certain extent shows that after the "integration of reporting and banking", the recovery rhythm and business strategy of various insurance companies on the channel side are not consistent.
For example, among the insurance companies with declining new single payment premiums, there may be both an active strategy of reducing the scale and the impact of passive regulatory policies, while the growth of bank-based insurance companies against the trend is not only related to the relatively stable operation of some joint ventures themselves, showing "counter-cyclical" advantages, but also related to the strategic importance of the bancassurance channel is difficult to replace.
We can also see that during the "good start" period in the first quarter, there are still many small and medium-sized insurance companies that maintain a high growth model in their bancassurance channels, such as Fude Life Insurance, Qianhai Life Insurance and Zhongrong Life Insurance, and the new single premium paid by the bancassurance channel in the first quarter increased by 51%, 65% and 167% year-on-year respectively. It is worth mentioning that the solvency reports of these three insurers have been in an "undisclosed" state for a long time, and the product form of the bancassurance channel is still unknown, and the impact of the products on capital remains to be further observed.
From warm-up to execution
Strict supervision is unwavering
In order to better prevent the risk of fee loss and guide the industry to learn to settle accounts, since August last year, the regulatory authorities have issued three normative policies in a row, and strive to make the "integration of newspapers and banks" strictly implemented.
Looking back at August 2023, at that time, the bancassurance channel had just experienced the pain of lowering the scheduled interest rate of ordinary life insurance, and then the baptism of "integration of newspaper and bank" followed. On August 22 of that year, the State Administration of Financial Supervision issued the Notice on Regulating Insurance Products through Bank Agency Channels, requiring insurance companies to clearly state the cost assumptions and fee structure in the actuarial report of the products in accordance with regulatory regulations when filing bancassurance products, and to list the upper limit of commissions. The commission fees paid to the bank should be listed according to the actual expenses, and the actual expenses such as commissions should be consistent with the filing materials, that is, "the integration of the newspaper and the bank".
Less than two months later, on October 9, 2023, the State Administration of Financial Supervision pointed out in the Notice on Relevant Matters Concerning the Management of Bancassurance Products issued by the industry that the predetermined surcharge rate of bancassurance channel products filed by some insurance companies is inconsistent with the total cost of bancassurance channels that are subsequently reported separately. The regulatory authorities will determine the total cost of the bancassurance channel according to the principle of whichever is lower. If there is a "discrepancy in the report" of the insurance company, it will be dealt with seriously.
At this point, the "integration of newspapers and banks" in the bancassurance channel has entered the stage of moving in earnest, and the regulators have made up their minds to rectify the shortcomings of the industry such as the "small account" of bancassurance and disorderly competition in handling fees. In terms of effect, on October 20, 2023, the regulator revealed at the press conference on the data information of the banking and insurance industry in the third quarter that it is preliminarily estimated that the commission rate of the bancassurance channel has decreased by about 30% compared with the previous average.
November 27, 2023
Under the bright sword of "integration of newspapers and banks", the bancassurance channel has "cooled down"! Where do insurance companies go?
Under such a strict regulatory policy, market players have gradually realized that the "integration of newspapers and banks" has become the general trend, and it is impossible to wait and see and have illusions. However, in terms of implementation, there are still certain deviations in the understanding and implementation of the "integration of newspapers and banks" by many insurance companies, such as whether the implementation of the "integration of newspapers and banks" is the responsibility of the head office or branches, how to understand the connotation and extension of the surcharge rate, and how to carry out retrospective analysis.
To this end, on January 19 this year, the State Administration of Financial Supervision issued the Notice on Matters Concerning the Regulation of the Bank Agency Channel Business of Life Insurance Companies to all insurance companies, further clarifying and refining the relevant requirements of the "integration of reporting and banking" of the bancassurance channel, and standardizing the whole chain of bancassurance business from the dimensions of insurance companies' design and filing products, improving the construction of internal control mechanisms, strengthening supervision and management, and coordinating the implementation of off-site supervision and on-site inspections. This is also the second time that the regulator has issued a document emphasizing the "integration of newspapers and banks" in the bancassurance channel after the two documents issued in August and October last year.
It is worth mentioning that the "Notice" also clearly divides the responsibilities of the insurance company and its branches for the first time, and proposes that the insurance company should establish and improve the business, financial, internal control and budget assessment mechanisms of the bank agency channel to ensure that its subordinate branches effectively implement the requirements of "integration of reporting and banking". Branches should strictly implement the work of "integration of newspaper and bank" according to the requirements of the head office.
January 19, 2024
Reshape the "whole chain" of bancassurance and insurance: "integration of newspapers and banks", and supervision is the ranking of accountability!
The regulatory policy of "one-click and three-in-a-row" integration of newspapers and banks has put the brakes on the once fast-paced bancassurance channel, and insurance companies have to readjust their business strategies for bancassurance channels, and how to better grasp the scale and quality, and the relationship between short-term and long-term has become a new topic.
Expenses and growth rates have decreased
Is it possible to find a value path?
In addition to expenses, business value is also the most discussed issue in the market regarding bancassurance channels. "Having scale but no value" and "special consumption of solvency" are the long-standing difficulties in the development of bancassurance channels.
It is important to know that the predetermined interest rate and settlement interest rate of bancassurance products are generally high, and the cost of the investment side of insurance companies is superimposed on the high cost of the expense side for a long time in the past, which makes the overall underwriting profit of the bancassurance channel also relatively thin, and even the bancassurance channel of many small and medium-sized insurance companies is "losing money and making money".
Then, a new question has also given rise to discussions: can the value contribution of the bancassurance channel be improved after the "integration of newspapers and banks", and how should insurance companies explore a new development model after the reduction of the attractiveness of handling fees to the banking channel?
"A Smart Insurance" noted that from the current point of view, market players are generally optimistic about the long-term value contribution released by the bancassurance channel after the "integration of newspapers and banks". Taking the leading insurance companies as an example, at the recent performance meeting of listed insurance companies, Cheng Yonghong, general manager of Taiping Life Insurance, pointed out that after the implementation of the "integration of newspapers and banks" policy, the bancassurance channel has brought more contributions to the company. "At present, the new business value ratio of bancassurance is close to 30%. However, it was difficult to achieve the new business value ratio of bancassurance and individual insurance in the past. ”
Bai Kai, vice president of Chinese Life Insurance, also believes that with the implementation of the "integration of newspapers and banks" in the bancassurance channel, the bank agency fee has decreased to a certain extent, but the new business value rate of the product has increased to a certain extent.
"It is expected that under the continuous guidance and regulation of the 'integration of newspapers and banks', the handling fee rate of the bancassurance channel is expected to be significantly reduced, which in turn will promote the increase of the value rate of new business in the channel. In this regard, the relevant research report of Guolian Securities also gave such an analysis.
In fact, for the in-depth adjustment of the bancassurance channel, many insurance companies are also carrying out targeted transformation based on past development defects, such as reducing the proportion of single payment and increasing the proportion of term delivery business on the product side, increasing the supplement of high-value health insurance while mainly promoting savings insurance, and increasing the sales of wealth management products, in order to reduce the risk of interest rate loss, strengthen the sales of dividend insurance and universal insurance, reduce the sensitivity to interest rates, and many companies have also set an upper limit on the scale of sales.
On the marketing side, in the past two years, many insurance companies have also begun to explore in-depth cooperation models with banks, such as Ping An's new bancassurance model and Dajia Life's exploration of the "thousands of networks and thousands of faces" strategy. Taking Dajia Life Insurance as an example, the company has discovered the operating characteristics of different banks through systematic research on the development strategy, business strategy, management mode and assessment system of each cooperative bank, and designed business strategies in a targeted manner to formulate differentiated business plans.
Perhaps, insurance companies that have taken the lead in refining and digital transformation in the bancassurance channel will be more relaxed in the face of this wave of adjustment of the "integration of newspaper and bank" policy.
On the one hand, from the perspective of market demand, the environment of low interest rates and the income pressure of bank intermediaries still have strong asset allocation advantages for insurance products;
After all, the scale effect brought by bancassurance has brought a certain test to the investment side, and how to master the balance is a dilemma that insurance companies must think about at present.