GX Bank Berhad (GXBank), Malaysia’s first digital bank, has announced a 10-year exclusive bancassurance partnership with Zurich General Insurance Malaysia Berhad and Zurich Life Insurance Malaysia Berhad. The tripartite partnership aims to introduce micro-protection products to address the insurance needs of the underserved.
According to the joint press announcement, GXBank will leverage intuitive technology and data-driven insights to identify customer pain points and work with Zurich Malaysia to co-create innovative digital insurance products that are simple, user-friendly and affordable.
The first digital insurance product is expected to be introduced by GXBank and Zurich Malaysia in the third quarter of this year and will focus on protecting underserved individuals from unauthorised transactions resulting from cybercrime, as well as transactions initiated by electronic scam messages.
GXBank CEO Pei-Si Lai said, “Our partnership enables us to address safety pain points regarding digital banking, and safeguard
Malaysians against life and financial uncertainties. As a young digital bank, we are excited to partner with Zurich Malaysia who has a presence in 200 countries and is at the forefront of transforming insurance services. Together, we hope to fractionalise insurance and make it affordable for every Malaysian.”
Meanwhile, Zurich Malaysia Head and CEO, Junior Cho said, “For many, the need for insurance protection is often weighed between the affordability and their financial standing. Coupled with the lack of understanding of the need for insurance protection, these are the main reasons why the populace, especially the financially vulnerable, remain uninsured. This long-term partnership with GXBank enables us to be flexible and agile in how we can co-create relevant affordable insurance products. Together, we look forward to instilling confidence and empower Malaysians to take charge of their financial future, and support Malaysians in caring for what truly matters in their lives.”
Quoting a 2023 survey by PwC, 84% of the uninsured population in Malaysia are aged between 18 to 34 years old. It highlighted an alarming statistic that 58% of adults in Malaysia do not have any life or takaful insurance.
In addition, there’s a rise in cyber-crimes in Malaysia where online fraud cases have doubled over 5 years from 2019 to 2023, with losses in 2023 (January to November) estimated at around RM1.3 billion.
GXBank and Zurich Malaysia iterate that the need for protection is more important than ever, especially with the increasingly volatile events in the world today. With the 10-year partnership, both Pei-Si and Junior hope to bridge the gap and facilitate more affordable insurance products without imposing additional financial burden on already tight budgets.
