Lazada Malaysia partners with AIG Malaysia to offer insurance online

• AIG’s offerings will include products that cover travel, snatch theft and active lifestyle care
• Premiums for AIG’s insurance range from RM8 to RM115

SOUTHEAST Asia’s biggest e-commerce platform Lazada Malaysia has announced that it is partnering with insurance company AIG Malaysia to provide a seamless purchase of insurance online.

Moving beyond selling physical goods, Lazada’s portfolio of products has since expanded to include the selling of gift coupons and dining vouchers on its platform.

“We are all digital natives now so it is our natural behaviour to look for products and services online among other things. So, selling insurance, as unlikely as it may be, was the next step for us,” said Lazada Malaysia chief executive officer Hans-Peter Ressel.

Incidentally, Lazada Malaysia and AIG Malaysia’s offices are located in the same building, so staff from the two companies would often bump into one another.

According to Lazada, talks on this collaboration and partnership have been ongoing over the past two years and required regulatory approval from Bank Negara Malaysia before it was finally given the green light.

Recognising that much of the Malaysian population is uninsured, the partnership seeks to expand the reach and penetration of insurance in the country while generating greater awareness.

To date, Malaysia’s general insurance penetration level stands at just 2% compared to 3%-4% in developed markets.

“Insurance is something not a lot of Malaysians buy and we need to get people to understand how important it is to be insured,” said AIG Malaysia chief executive officer Antony Lee.

“Part of the reason why it is important to get insured is that people are taking more risks these days. There are more instances of people travelling to remote places and if an unfortunate accident were to happen, that’s when they are caught off-guard,” said Lee.

At present, AIG’s offerings on Lazada may be limited but Lee believes that starting out small and keeping the product line-up simple for now is the way to go before the company explores more complex policies like motor insurance in the future.

Visitors to the Lazada Malaysia website will now be able to shop from a dedicated AIG web shop front to purchase Travel, Snatch Theft, Active Lifestyle Care and Purchase Protection coverage.

The premiums will range between RM8 to RM115. Users need only purchase the insurance package by checking out the item on Lazada and supply their personal details in a follow-up activation email sent by AIG.

Ressel adds that apart from Malaysia, Lazada is looking to extend selling insurance products to other countries around the region though he did not disclose details on which the countries and the time frame when this would happen.

Related Stories:

Lazada launches new social commerce channel Lazada TV

MBiz moves to lead the e-commerce market in B2B and B2G

Lazada Indonesia celebrates its 5th anniversary

For more technology news and the latest updates, follow us on Facebook,Twitter or LinkedIn.