The agency channel in Cambodia is generating more premiums as insurers try to reduce their dependence on the bancassurance channel.
Premiums from the agency channel increased by 6% to $13.34m in the first quarter of 2024, compared to $12.6m in 1Q23.
The agency channel accounted for 25.9% of total premiums in 1Q24, an increase from 24.6% in the corresponding quarter in 2023, reported Khmer Times citing data from the Insurance Association of Cambodia (IAC). In contrast, the bancassurance channel’s contribution to total sales fell slightly.
|
Channel
|
1Q2024
|
1Q2023
|
1Q2022
|
|
Gross Premium
|
Share
|
Gross Premium
|
Share
|
Gross Premium
|
Share
|
|
Agency
|
13.34m
|
25.9%
|
12.63m
|
24.6%
|
13.40m
|
27.0%
|
|
Partnership
|
36.83m
|
71.5%
|
37.34m
|
72.8%
|
34.18m
|
68.8%
|
|
Digital
|
0.20m
|
0.4%
|
0.18m
|
0.3%
|
-
|
-
|
|
Others
|
1.15m
|
2.2%
|
1.13m
|
2.2%
|
2.07m
|
4.2%
|
|
Total
|
51.52m
|
100%
|
51.28m
|
100%
|
49.65m
|
100%
|
|
Source: Insurance Association of Cambodia
|
The 1Q24 performance of the agency channel represents a turning point of sorts following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic that slashed the ranks of agents. Thousands of agents quit the industry because of poor insurance sales and turned to other income sources. In 2020, before the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry in Cambodia had nearly 30,000 agents. Today industry estimates are that there are only 8,000-10,000 agents on the ground.
Apart from the effects of COVID-19, regulation has become stricter for those who hope to be agents as the Insurance Regulator of Cambodia acted to curb unscrupulous and misleading sales of insurance products. At the same time, the National Bank of Cambodia has warned banks against mis-selling and forced sales, resulting in banks becoming more cautious in pushing insurance products.
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