SINGAPORE -Amidst growing demand for travel insurance and more travel claims being lodged, DBS has partnered with MSIG Insurance to offer a faster service for settling travel claims.
DBS or POSB account holders who have bought MSIG's travel insurance plans through the DBS website will now be able to make and receive claims more quickly through an instant electronic payment service, said the two companies in a press release on Thursday (July 6).
The service will reduce the time it takes to settle a travel claim by approximately four days. In the past, settling of travel claims took at least four days, and cheques were typically issued after the insurer verified the claim.
With the new service, travellers can file their claims and receive their payments in theirbank accounts immediately after verification.
MSIG Insurance offers a variety of insurance solutions to DBS customers, and about half of the MSIG policies distributed through DBS last year were bought online.
Mr Michael Gourlay, chief executive of MSIG Insurance said that the company will be focusin on initiatives that will help to enhance customer experience.
"Besides travel claims, we will look into introducing real-time electronic payment service across our whole enterprise," he said.
Ms Jeanette Wong, group head of institutional banking group at DBS, said that the collaboration "is part of our broader strategy to work with our clients to co-create new digital experiences for their customers and partners."
She noted that the collaboration helped MSIG's customers to experience a more streamlined and immediate digital process by reducing the use of cheques.
The move to digitise the travel claims process comes amidst rapidly growing demand for travel insurance, as well as an increase in travel claims.
In 2015, travel insurance accounted for 21.6 per cent, or S$781 million of the total general insurance business, up from S$711 million in 2014 and S$628 million in 2013.
In March this year, AIG Singapore said that travel claims for high-impact incidents such as extreme weather, medical outbreaks have risen by 85 per cent compared with three years ago, while other insurerssuch as OCBC Bank and Great Eastern said they were seeing significant increases in the number of Singaporeans buying travel insurance.
