Woori Bank to offer insurance products in Indonesia, Vietnam

South Korea’s commercial bank Woori Bank will join hands with local insurance companies to provide insurance service and products from its global outlets starting with its local unit in Indonesia.

According to bank sources, the bank will be able to sell insurance products of Hanwha Life Insurance Co. through its Indonesian unit Bank Woori Saudara in the second half of this year. The bank wants to establish up to 300 outlets across the globe and decided to add insurance service, a bank official said.

Hanwha Life Insurance’s Indonesian operation was established in October 2013 and currently has eight branches and 1,200 insurance planners. It will sell savings insurance products like variable annuity through 131 Bank Woori Saudara outlets. The partnership will be a win-win arrangement for the two since they can save costs by mixing business and sharing business.

Depending on demand, Woori Bank will also sell non-life insurance products of Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co. and KB Insurance Co. via its Indonesian operation.

Woori Bank will also target Vietnamese bancassurance market in partnership with Hanwha Life Insurance. The bank has two branches in Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi in Vietnam. Since the branches have the license to sell bancassurance products, it plans to sell saving insurance products of Hanwha Life Insurance and later products of Samsung Fire & Marine.

Hanwha Life ranked eighth in terms of new insurance contracts in Vietnam last year. The insurer has 12,500 insurance planners in 54 branches.

According to Woori Bank, the Indonesian life insurance market has almost doubled from $5.3 billion in 2010 to $9.8 billion in 2014. Vietnam showed similar growth.