LIC launches co-branded credit card with UAE bank

Dubai, Jan 1:

LIC International of India, an arm of India’s top insurance company LIC, has partnered with First Gulf Bank (FGB), a leading bank in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to launch a first-of-its-kind co-branded credit card in the Gulf nation.

According to a report in Al Bawaba online, this is the first time that a leading insurance company has entered into a strategic alliance with a leading bank in the country to create a unified payment solution.

Insurance payments, persistency and ad hoc surcharge levied by many insurance companies on premium payments through cards have been a key concern among many policyholders in the UAE.

Through this programme, the bank will provide a solution to these issues, in addition to developing a loyalty platform for their common customers with unique benefits.

“This relationship represents more than a tie-up that produces unique services for customers in the region. It is about partnering with one of the most trusted brands globally and working together to offer significant value-added services, protection and saving products along with a best-in-class loyalty platform to all UAE residents and joint customers,” said Girish Advani, executive vice president and head of mass market, FGB’s Consumer Banking Group.

Rajesh Kandwal, chief executive officer and managing director of LIC International, said: “This cooperation will offer value-added services to customers from two customer-focused organisations.”

He added: “In the coming weeks, residents will see that FGB and LIC International are both continuing to work towards ‘insuring lives and ensuring happiness’.”

The partnership of the two companies began in January 2013, and they have aimed to provide innovative joint solutions for the customers in UAE. Their cooperation has led to sales worth $75 million for “Jeevan Aastha 3”.

FGB also achieved record sales worth $100 million for LIC International’s “Jeevan Nivesh”, in less than eight weeks since the product was first released in the market.

Customers have also benefited from a recent joint interactive consumer awareness campaign on the importance of financial planning.

LIC International was established in Bahrain in 1989 by LIC of India to cater for the needs of residents in the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and elsewhere. LIC of India has over 350 million policyholders worldwide and was rated as India’s most trusted brand by The Brand Trust Report 2013.

The USE is home to around two million expatriate Indians, many of them working as blue collar workers. (IANS)