A good bancassurance model for TT says Scotia boss

Gillian Poon Ting, ScotiaLife’s General Manager, has described Scotiabank as the “first full true bancassurance model in the country.” ScotiaLife is the company’s offering to bring life insurance and banking under one roof.  She was speaking at the launch of Scotiabank’s latest business unit, ScotiaLife, at Tony Roma’s last week. She said ScotiaLife was “blending what would have been a bank type activity like savings, with insurance.” Central Bank Governor Ewart Williams said Scotiabank deserves credit for “attempting to exploit the synergies and economies of scale to be derived from the selling of banking products to insurance clients and vice versa.”

In praising ScotiaLife’s effort to enter a competitive market, Williams said Scotiabank has demonstrated that it has the right customer focus and the right corporate culture. “ScotiaLife thus comes from a good family and as such, is a most welcome addition to the insurance industry.” Poon Ting said her company was born out of the desire “to provide a complete range of financial solutions to customers.” An insurance policy, she said is an important part of a balanced, comprehensive portfolio. It offers security — financial protection for when the unexpected happens. But it is also much more, she said. “It is a structured savings programme — with distinct advantages and benefits that can help customers realise their medium to long-term goals.”

The ScotiaLife head explained that at the centre of the company’s interaction with each customer was a state of the art “Needs Analysis System,” (NAS) a software application that allowed the customer to critically examine some of the important concepts in financial planning. “It helps him/her to determine his financial goals and the time horizon for realising each goal plus evaluate his tolerance or appetite for risk, all within the context of his particular stage in the cycle of life,” she added.

Poon Ting said the NAS guided the customer through the key components of saving and investing in a simple, user-friendly manner. “Significant factors such as the impact of inflation and taxation are highlighted. The customer can utilise the interactive financial calculators to fully appreciate how inflation erodes purchasing power and the need to start a savings plan early,” she added. She summed it up nicely when she described her company’s goal: “A bold, yet simple focus — to empower customers to make informed decisions about saving and investing.”