Tata AIA Life Insurance Co Ltd has launched a premium payment service on its WhatsApp platform, helping policyholders pay policy premiums through a wide range of payment options such as credit and debit cards as well as net banking.
Tata AIA has also increased the amount of premium that policyholders can pay to up to Rs 1 crore from the earlier limit of Rs 2 lakh.
This service, which is the first-ever launch of its kind in the life insurance sector, has also expanded Tata AIA’s comprehensive range of services on WhatsApp, including accessing soft copy policy documents, managing claims and knowing fund value updates, among others.
In June 2023, the life insurer had launched the digital payment feature providing an instant premium payment facility through WhatsApp and UPI-enabled payment options.
Tata AIA offers as many as 27 services on WhatsApp for its consumers. Among these services are policy document, premium certificate, claims initiation and updates, renewal premium payments, contact information update, service request tracking, NEFT update, unit statement, and fund value updates.
It also has an interactive service bot called ‘TASHA’ that responds to consumer queries 24/7 throughout the year.
Speaking on the initiative, Tata AIA Executive Vice President and Head of Operations Sanjay Arora said, “We are excited to set the trend in the industry with the introduction of the new, consumer centric payment options on WhatsApp.”
This service is part of the company’s ongoing commitment to providing consumers with convenience and ease through cutting-edge technologies, he said adding that Tata AIA will continue to offer market-leading solutions that will help it always deliver superior customer experience.
By using this “convenient and seamless” payment process, consumers will be able to pay now renewal premiums through WhatsApp and enjoy more flexibility.
Tata AIA said that by using this service, payments can be made quickly within a minute, and consumers receive immediate acknowledgement. Additionally, the integration of credit card, debit card, and net banking options eliminates the need to use the UPI.
To add to the convenience of its existing consumers, Tata AIA has adopted an analytics-driven approach to improve its renewal premium collections and enabled renewal premium collections via multiple digital modes.
In FY23, Tata AIA ranked first in four of the five persistency cohorts, including the 13th month persistency. The 13th month persistency ratio (based on premium) of the company improved from 87.76% in FY22 to 88.1%.
The persistency ratio measures the percentage of policy renewals each year, indicating their confidence in the company. Consumers are alsways advised to check this key metric when choosing a life insurance company.
Tata AIA’s individual death claims settlement ratio rose from 98.53% in FY22 to 99.01% in FY23. In Q1 FY24, it achieved the industry-best persistency performance across all five cohorts (13th, 25th, 37th, 49th and 61st month).