At the early stage Muang Thai, the country's fourth largest insurance company as of August this year, used DTAC's technology - push-mail, air-card and short messaging - to facilitate its connections.

However, while DTAC was now focusing on customer satisfaction to attract more post-paid subscribers and Muang Thai working on customer-base expansion, a joint product creation was launched last week, DTAC Postpaid Life Care policies. This group insurance product will from next month cover the 1.2 million DTAC subscribers who have been using DTAC's post-paid services for at least one year. The coverage will be offered at no cost to subscribers.

Although the total sum insured is worth Bt125 billion, the premium DTAC absorbed for its customers was fairly low as the policies cover only loss of life through accident.

Muang Thai president Sara Lamsam expects to gain brand awareness from this campaign.

In the first two quarters, when the  economy was unstable and purchasing power declined, Muang Thai managed to achieve 22-per-cent growth from new business.

Although its growth fell short of the firm's target of 49 per cent, it was still way ahead of the insurance industry's growth rate of only 2 per cent.

Sara said his company was focusing on multiple distribution channels, not just sales through representatives, and the partnership with DTAC was another major step in this context.

Besides selling through agents, Muang Thai has received great support from Kasikornbank to boost its "bancassurance" business.

Over the next three years, the company plans to generate 30 per cent each of total premiums from agents, bancassurance and affinity channels, with the remaining 10 per cent coming from group insurance. Currently, agents dominate sales, accounting for 69 per cent of volume. Bancassurance accounts for 16 per cent, affinity channels for 11 per cent and group insurance for 7 per cent.

For the first eight months, the insurer reported total premiums of Bt6.42 billion, a rise of 22 per cent from a year earlier, with first-year premiums rising 18 per cent to Bt1.51 billion. Personal-accident coverage accounted for Bt28.5 million, a rise of 109 per cent from last year.

The total premium DTAC paid to Muang Thai was not revealed, but this latest cooperative project is expected to expand the insurer's group-insurance premiums. In the future it is also assumed that Muang Thai will use DTAC's customer data base in its marketing plan.

Piyarat Setthasiriphaiboon

The Nation