KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s largest local insurer Etiqa is optimistic about its economic outlook for Malaysia and the company’s ability in its digital services delivery.
The Malaysia gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to rise between four and five per cent in 2024 as projected by Bank Negara Malaysia, versus its 2023’s four per cent expectation. Etiqa group chief executive officer Kamaludin Ahmad said with about 750,000 registered online users including its ‘Smile’ mobile application (app), he hoped that more people would discover the ease of getting or renewing their insurance policy online.
“For motor insurance for example, it is something that vehicle owners have to do anyway, and we want to ensure that the features in the app — some do not require a login — gets better and better.
“And what we do here (in Malaysia) will also be exported to countries where we are present in.” he told reporters after a media luncheon on Wednesday.
He also added travel insurance is growing, given that medical expenses could be really expensive overseas.
He hopes the number of customers buying insurance policies will rise to 400,000 in 2024 versus the current 300,000 annually, or 25,000 customers (number of insurance policies) per month who buy travel insurance via online today. On the regional expansion of its takaful products, Kamaludin said Etiqa has to be selective and would prefer to grow organically amid challenging market conditions.
“As the fifth (5th) largest Aseanowned insurer and overall 11th largest in Asean, we are quite sizeable already.
“Although there is huge potential to grow in Indonesia, for example, it is not easy doing business there, and we need to find good local partner, unlike Singapore and Vietnam, that can have 100 per cent stake,” he said.
At the event, Etiqa chief strategy officer Chris Eng said it has engaged with regulators in the Philippines to potentially export its takaful products in the coming months to meet the needs of over six per cent Muslim population there.
It plans to bring more family takaful products into Singapore which is currently rather limited. Etiqa is a multi-channel distributor of insurance and takaful products via its 10,000 agency force, 46 branches and 17 offices, over 490 bancassurance network (via Maybank branches, third-party banks, co-operatives and brokers) through its presence in Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and Cambodia. – BERNAMA
