Philam Life looking to add health component to more insurance products

PHILIPPINE AMERICAN Life and General Insurance Co., Inc. (Philam Life) wants to attach a health component to its products amid strong demand as part of its aim to narrow the insurance gap in the country.

In a media luncheon on Tuesday, Philam Life Chief Executive Officer Ariel G. Cantos said the company intends to address the market’s need to remain healthy.

“As an institution, we want to influence people to be healthy. That’s why our services, our products, and even our communication is now toward being healthy,” Mr. Cantos told BusinessWorld.

Mr. Cantos noted that while Filipinos are not fully committed in staying healthy despite setting this as a priority.

“According to a survey, 63% of the Filipinos want to be healthy. Unfortunately, are they doing something about it? We know that they don’t. That’s when the Vitality program enters,” he said in Filipino.

Vitality is a rewards program of Philam Life that provides incentives when clients achieve a wellness goal.

“When they engage in healthy activities such as exercise [and] check- ups, they can get points. [These can accumulate to obtain prizes.] For example, if you’re able to meet your goal in two weeks, [ you can get free cellphone] load and movie [passes],” Mr. Cantos explained.

The Vitality program is mobile application- based, and Philam Life aims to get it incorporated to all insurance products in 2018.

Currently, the said program is attached to only three insurance programs.

Through this and other initiatives, Philam Life also intends to address the large protection gap • the amount of insurance that is still needed • in the Philippines.

To address this, Mr. Cantos said the company is looking to strengthen its sales and agent force. The insurer will also ramp up its campaign to lure younger generations to avail of insurance products.

“One of the things we’re doing is [to] attract young financial advisors [ because the younger demographics is more comfortable to talk to people their age] who understands them,” the official said.

To encourage more millennials to get into investing in insurance, financial advisers are equipped with digital tools such as mobile tablets and social media applications to get their potential clients engaged. •