SCB Protect Plans

Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) has set up a new insurance brokerage arm and aims to hire 500 brokers nationwide in order to rapidly acquire customers and boost the insurance adoption rate.

The insurance subsidiary, called SCB Protect Co, was set up with 303 million baht in capital and is wholly owned by SCB. The company is in the process of recruiting 500 "protection consultants", one for each district in the country, by the end of the year.

SCB Protect plans to launch official products in October, focusing on life insurance, health insurance, asset protection and savings protection in the price range of 1,000-2,000 baht a month or a paid insurance premium of 10,000-20,000 baht a month.

Out of some 16 million customers, only 3% of the bank's mass segment currently pays for insurance products. SCB said the coronavirus crisis has sparked interest in buying insurance among many customers. Setting up its own brokerage arm will help the bank meet the needs of this mass-market segment seeking lower-cost options.

SCB plans to add value to the masses through our digital platform, starting with insurance claimant services. The company's protection consultants can give suggestions to customers who are looking for multiple insurance segments (such as personal insurance protection, office insurance welfare and social welfare) and are confused about which benefits they can claim.

Protection consultants - will have a fixed salary of 13,000 baht a month, with travel and mobile phone expenses of 1,000 baht, plus performance bonuses. They are expected to reach a goal of 1.7 customers per agent per month, which is five times higher than the market average.

In 2021, SCB Protect plans to grow its total premiums from 1 billion baht and expand its number of protection consultants to 2,000 workers from 500 at the end of this year. The company hopes to see Thailand's insurance access rate grow from the current 30%.