AXA unveils PH’s first online insurance store

By: Doris C. Dumlao - 10 years ago

SCREENGRAB from www.axa.com.ph

MANILA, Philippines — Life insurer AXA Philippines unveiled Wednesday the first online insurance store in the Philippines, aiming to capture a growing number of e-commerce-savvy consumers, especially the younger people.

The new online platform, AXA iON or AXA Insurance Online, offers four fully guaranteed simple and affordable insurance products, with premiums starting at P1,000 per month. The aim is to reach out to more people, especially the younger people who may otherwise be intimidated to walk into an office or bank branch to buy an insurance plan.

Potential clients can use their Visa or Master Card credit cards to pay for the monthly premium, seen as the easiest billing procedure for now. In the future, however, AXA is open to exploring auto debit arrangements.

“The Internet is playing an ever increasing role in the way we communicate, transact and find information about anything,” AXA Philippines president Rien Hermans said. “Nowadays people meet on social media, find jobs online, buy books, gadgets, clothes, shoes, book hotels and air travel on the internet — all of this is no surprise to any of us anymore.”

“With AXA iON, we now give customers the chance to secure their financial future from the increasing costs of education, the burden of expensive healthcare costs, and the passing of a breadwinner, all in a digital platform and in just a few, easy steps,” he said.

Hermans said it was the best time to launch this product, ahead of the pack, as the market opportunity for e-commerce was just beginning. If AXA had come in two years earlier, it would have been too soon for the market, he added.

“The Internet will not replace the financial advisor, but it will complement the way how we communicate and transact with our clients,” Hermans stressed. “This is why we allow customers to select their financial advisor, even if they buy online. This ensures that once they want to do a full financial-needs analysis, they will have someone that they can turn to.”

The AXA chief said most life insurance companies tend to create a lot of mystery or confusion around their products by coming up with a multitude of options, features and limitations, all packed in a lot of jargon.

“AXA Philippines wants to change this by offering the most basic financial products that can help people secure their financial future in a transparent, easy, and affordable way to the growing population of Filipinos who are logged on to the internet on an almost daily basis,” Hermans said.

The following are AXA iON’s fully guaranteed products under the “AXA eXentials” line:

Savings eXentials was designed as an alternative to savings, providing better returns than a regular savings account returns and paying out the cash to beneficiaries even if the client hasn’t complete the five-year savings plan in case of death or disability;

Academic eXentials gives guaranteed cash benefits once a year for five consecutive years, meant to help defray costs related to tuition or education. In case of untimely demise before the five-year payout period, it will give beneficiaries additional cash every year until the year before the scheduled release of benefits;

Life eXentials was meant as a “back-to-basics” income replacement plan which pays out benefits monthly over a period of up to five years, eliminating the danger of wiping out insurance proceeds at once and ensures that the beneficiaries get a monthly stipend to replace the income of the plan-holder who passed away.

Health eXentials is meant as an affordable complement to HMO (health maintenance organization) coverage as it pays out cash upon diagnosis of critical conditions such as heart attack, stroke, including gender specific cancers (breast, cervical, prostate cancers), stroke, heart attack, Alzheimer’s disease, liver disease and 30 other critical illnesses.

“Through AXA iON, customers can now learn more about these financial solutions, at their own pace and convenience” said Amor Balagtas, chief marketing officer of AXA Philippines. “Having done one’s own research and now ready to secure his financial future, one can purchase their desired financial product by simply using their credit card in just a few clicks.”

“But for those who prefer to talk to an AXA Financial Partner, they may use AXA iON to start a conversation on their financial needs, as this is a great tool to help them understand what options are available to them,” Balagtas added.