This figure could be a lot higher if we take into account the mode of payment used by customers to pay agents, which based on anecdotal evidence, are primarily in cash and cheque. On this front, agents should work hand-inhand with insurance companies to encourage and incentivise their customers to adopt epayments. Besides enhancing the customer experience, higher adoption of e-payments could also boost the agents’ efficiency and productivity. In this regard, time and effort saved from less handling of cash and cheques can be directed to more productive tasks such as to increase sales, even by usage of WhatsApp. Second, increasing your digital accessibility to prospective clients. For a long as I am aware, the agency force has always dominated the insurance distribution 2/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  channel. In 2017, there was a total of over 56,000 agents constituting a market share of approximately 63%. Irrespective of whether in general or life insurance, the agency force has traditionally been the physical point of contact and engagements with clients. But, with the Internet and improved access amongst a growing number of the Malaysian population, online insurance solutions will not only become more viable, but also easier to adopt. In this, the agency force cannot afford to stagnate. Other industries with heavily digitalised services, like the air travel, hospitality and retail sectors, have elevated the digital literacy of the Malaysian population and improved their appetite for efficient delivery and transparent pricing of services.
This is a challenge to the industry to raise this till we meet again in two years. Given that the agency force are the insurers’ first contact point with customers, agents wield significant influence over how customers perceive and experience insurance. It is thus critical for agents to provide the highest levels of service via continued and consistent displays of attentiveness and value adding, to build trust with their clients. There are many possibilities to improve the current insurance value chain. One area that Bank Negara Malaysia strongly supports is the use of electronic payments. We have been undertaking a major initiative since 2013 to promote e-payments and reduce use of cash and cheques now. In increasing e-payments among financial institutions, government agencies, retail transactions, we have made some inroads. The insurance industry’s uptake however, still remains low. Perhaps agents can do more to help us in this. Promoting and using e-payments could remove the many pain points associated with the manual handling of cash and cheques that are experienced by the consumer, agent and even the insurer. Some of the data still indicate a high number of cheques. From January to July 2018, about 35,000 cheques were issued by the general insurance companies to their customers for the payment of claims and refunds. Likewise for collection purposes, about 1.1 million premium payment transactions were still being made using cash and cheque in the first 7 months of 2018.