DIGITIZATION. Digitization is helping the company operate strongly amid the pandemic, Insular Life (InLife) president and CEO Raoul Littaua said Tuesday (Sept. 28, 2021). He said the Insurance Commission's go-signal for companies to use technology to sell their products and people's increased awareness of the need to get protection products are fueling insurance sales. (Photo from InLIfe)
MANILA – Companies have cited technological innovations and the shift towards digitization before the pandemic as key to building resilience during the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, while noting the importance of government measures towards digitalization.
In a virtual briefing on Tuesday, Insular Life (InLife) president and chief executive officer (CEO) Raoul Littaua said “it was a challenge” for their operations when the government implemented lockdowns to arrest the rise of Covid-19 infections as life insurance sales traditionally depend on face-to-face interactions.
“We have to conduct our business digitally. It’s a good thing that the Insurance Commission recognized this very quickly and left many things, the conduct of business, digitally. And in the case of Inlife, it's also fortunate thing that we have made investments in technology, in digitization, way before, way before the pandemic spark," he said.
Littaua said InLife was the first insurance company in the country that automated underwriting.
“So it was really quick for us to move to a fully digital platform because we already have made the investments in those places earlier,” he said, underscoring the need for people’s readiness to embrace technology and new ways of doing things.
Littaua said the pandemic has made people realize the importance of life insurance.
He noted that previously, people considered life insurance as “a need that people don’t want to want.”
However, with the uncertainty brought about by the pandemic, the insurance sector in general “has to rise to the occasion to make sure that the protection needs of Filipino families are met,” he added.
In his presentation, Littaua said the company registered robust sales in the first quarter of 2021, with gross written premiums rising by nearly 53 percent year on year to PHP3.5 billion.
He said the new business annual premium equivalent also increased by almost 42 percent to PHP422.2 million.
Littaua said the second-quarter and third-quarter figures are showing “stronger performance.”
“And I think that’s going to be sustained. We’re going to have a very good turnaround this year,” he added. (PNA)
