05/05/2025

BANKING & INSURANCE 12 MONDAY | MAY 5, 2025

Insurers face changing landscape

literacy survey indicated that 65% of respondents acknowledged the important role of legacy. However, only 15% of respondents have a plan in place. “A key initiative driving this agenda is our partnership with Alif Satar as Sun Life Malaysia’s 2025 ambassador. “Through initiatives like bite sized education series, Alif will help deepen public understanding of how takaful supports long-term financial security and family sta bility,” Liew said. Beyond education, Sun Life is also focused on growing its agency and bancassurance channels in tandem, providing customised solu tions to meet their evolving needs. Such coverage includes legacy solutions for high-net worth clients, comprehensive family critical illness protection for middle-to lower-income families and simple term plans sold online to protect a wider audience. Liew said, “We are committed to exploring all avenues to boost our business growth and capabilities. Being a digitally driven enterprise, we are actively intensifying our digital efforts, including investing in technology, digital tools, and analy tics to transform operational effi ciency. “We aim to use technology to help our advisers deliver the best possible advice and experiences to our clients. “For example, we have partnered with Munich Re Automation Solu tions, adopting their SaaS under writing platform, Allfinanz Spark, to streamline and automate the under writing processes. This enables us to provide quicker, better service and more personalised assessments to clients.” Globally, Liew said, Sun Life is embracing the generative AI trend with Amazon’s AWS. “Our ‘Sun Life Asks’ chatbot is a game-changer. It is answering over 10,000 queries a week and saving our team significant time. In short, by leveraging AWS and generative AI, we are able to scale our operations, reduce costs, and inno vate rapidly, ensuring we stay ahead in the competitive insurance land scape,” he said.

the face of these uncertainties. For 2024, Liew said the Malay sian insurance industry remained resilient, despite rising costs and premium concerns, with invest ment-linked products leading the market. This lined up with Malay sia’s positive economic growth, which grew from 3.6% in 2023 to 5.1% in 2024. The growth in consumer spend ing and favourable digital and regulatory reforms, including the comprehensive Policy Document on Licensing and Regulatory Framework for Digital Insurers and Takaful Operators also supported the industry’s favourable perfor mance, he added. Liew said inflation and rising living costs are significantly im pacting financial resilience in Malaysia. He stated that many people prioritise meeting their basic needs, which leaves little space for future savings. “Escalating costs, from food to medical bills, are creating financial strain,” Liew noted. He pointed out that Sun Life’s Asia Financial Resilience Index 2024 revealed that only 38% of Malaysians have a financial plan beyond one year ahead. Furthermore, the respondents listed retirement and savings as their second-highest financial priority, but only 18% currently have a retirement or pension plan to support their goals. “We recognise the challenges posed by inflation and rising living costs. “Sun Life is addressing these concerns through increased em phasis on financial literacy pro grammes, making retirement plan ning tools more accessible, and developing products that help Malaysians build financial resi lience in the face of these economic pressures,” Liew said. Sun Life’s priority remains em powering Malaysians to secure their financial future through better awareness and accessibility to insu rance and takaful solutions, he said. “Legacy planning will be a major focus in 2025, as we continue to bridge knowledge gaps in this crucial area. Our recent insurance

country head Raymond Lew said the industry is also witnessing more strategic cross-industry collabora tions, which are increasingly vital for insurers. “Partnerships with healthcare, technology, and financial services sectors enable the development of integrated solutions that cater to diverse client needs. Examples include comprehensive health pro grammes, advanced digital platforms and bundled financial products. “By delivering seamless, holistic experiences, insurers can signi ficantly enhance client satis faction, foster long-term loyalty, and improve retention,” he told SunBiz . Liew said domestic and global economic uncertainties are driving a strong focus on financial in clusion. He said the industry is actively working to expand insurance and takaful penetration, particularly among underserved communities, to ensure greater financial resilience in

o Rising medical costs, digital transformation, generative AI among key trends emerging in local insurance sector this year, says Sun Life Malaysia country head

Ű BY JOHN GILBERT sunbiz@thesundaily.com

The licensing of digital insurance and takaful operators is expected to significantly improve market access and close protection gaps. At the same time, generative artificial intelligence (AI) is in creasingly playing a vital role in the industry, especially in the area of enhancing fraud detection, ena bling hyperpersonalised services, and streamlining operations via automation. Furthermore, predictive analy tics will allow insurers to anticipate customer needs, while AI-driven efficiency will reduce costs and improve service speed. Sun Life Malaysia president and

KUALA LUMPUR: The domestic insurance industry is expected to face several key trends this year that will significantly impact the landscape, with rising medical costs being a major concern. The escalating expenses may lead to higher claims and sub sequent premium adjustments, pushing insurers to develop more innovative products that address the root causes of these cost in creases. Meanwhile, digital transform ation will continue to accelerate.

Liew says there are more strategic cross-industry collaborations, which are increasingly vital for insurers.

Instapay and Mastercard expand cross-border money transfer services PETALING JAYA: Instapay Technologies and Mastercard are enhancing inter national money transfer services for Instapay customers through Master card Move, a portfolio of money movement capabilities powering person-to-person and business pay ments to more than 180 countries worldwide in over 150 currencies. Organization for Migration data. With Mastercard Move, Instapay users in these five cross-border payment corridors as well as in Pakistan, can enjoy seamless transfers to bank accounts, digital wallets and cash pickup locations. They can also track payments, fees and estimated delivery times. “This collaboration enables us to leverage Mastercard’s vast global payment network and cross-border transfer expertise. It will enhance our remittance service to our customers, making it more efficient, secure, and cost effective,” he said, adding that their goal has always been to leverage technology to make transactions more efficient and reduce the cost per transaction. Malaysia and Brunei Beena Pothen said, “As the global economy evolves, there is an ever-growing demand for more practical, cost-effective digital solutions for cross-border payments. What is especially important for the millions of migrant workers in Malaysia who are supporting their families back home is that the money transfer is fast, secure and trans parent.” their financial needs, including a prepaid Mastercard card, remit tance solutions, and salary crediting accounts. Through its technology driven approach, Instapay aims to improve financial access and well being for underserved commu nities.

Mastercard Move provides banks, non-bank financial institutions, direct disbursers and their customers with a fast, secure money transfer solution, both domestically and internationally. The portfolio of solutions reaches more than 180 countries and over currencies, with access to more than 95% of the world’s banked popu lation.

Banking & Finance Instapay Technologies co-founder and CEO, Rajnish Kumar said they are happy to deepen their relationship with Mastercard. Instapay will first launch these Mastercard Move capabilities to individual customers in the second quarter of 2025 and has plans to expand to corporate customers.

This collaboration will allow over three million migrant workers living in Malaysia to remit funds to home countries in local currencies in near real-time. Malaysia’s migrant workforce comes primarily from Indonesia, Nepal, Bangladesh, India and the Philippines, according to International

Instapay Technologies focuses on financial inclusion for unbanked workers by providing accessible and convenient financial solutions. As a licensed e-money issuer, Instapay provides migrant workers with a comprehensive digital platform for

“There are many innovations happening in the cross-border pay ment space, and this collaboration ensures we stay at the forefront of offering enhanced services to our customers,” he said. Mastercard country manager,

Education News/Health & Wellness TUES

ESG

Property

WED

MON

THUR