Sagicor Life launches eLife online platform

Sagicor Life Inc has launched an online platform – eLife – which will allow people to purchase life insurance policies online. In addition, a new product, Easy Choice, will allow people to choose the amount of coverage they want with the option of saving.

Speaking at the virtual launch of the platform on Wednesday, Sagicor Life Inc CEO Robert Trestrail said it was an innovation for the insurance industry.

“eLife will allow people the ability to purchase, in the first instance, life insurance solutions completely online from their homes or anywhere there is an internet connection. We are pleased to launch with this platform a suite of unique life insurance solutions that are even more affordable and can be acquired without the requirement for a medical examination.”

Trestrail said agents would not be affected by this move, as people purchasing on the platform would be connected to an agent. He said the company was in the process of hiring more agents.

He said eLife is part of the company’s holistic strategy to address their clients’ needs, including answering the questions what they’ve been asking for, what they’re demanding, how can these things be anticipated, and how can life be made easier for them?

“The answers to those questions have given life to various initiatives, services and solutions across our Caribbean footprint, including our virtual customer experience, an online scheduling facility that allows customers to book video conference calls with customer service representatives, our Sagicor Go mobile app, the use of WhatsApp for business, the introduction of both our pension and life insurance portals, along with our global website, Sagicor.com.”

Trestrail said systems have been improved internally to better respond to and strengthen interactions with clients.

Sagicor Eastern Caribbean CEO Donald Austin said the company was pleased to give customers additional options to purchase their insurance from Sagicor.

“We continue to work toward the goal of being recognised as a digitally-savvy organisation providing cutting edge solutions for our clients to achieve financial security and prosperity. We set our sights on becoming the leading provider of financial solutions. This includes creating an environment that would enable a fast-buying process with digital applications, giving our clients convenience and flexibility.

“In addition to eLife we are also pleased to introduce a new product called Easy Choice, which will provide clients with term insurance with an option for savings, with people being able to decide on the level of coverage they require. Easy Choice is really an overall representation of our vision to ensure that people at all levels of society can access the value of insurance and gain the coverage they need for themselves and their families.”

Digital and Alternate Channels assistant vice president Carolyn Shepherd gave a demonstration of the platform, located at https://elife.uat.sagicor.com, using the Easy Choice product.

“Once you select a country on the website, you can select a product and you will be provided with information. You are asked if you are an existing Sagicor Life client, would you like to select a Sagicor Life adviser, and you can type the name of the agent. You are asked if you are a permanent citizen or resident of TT, as we don’t have approval to sell outside these categories. You are also asked basic medical questions, and if you answer yes to these, you would not qualify for that particular product, but can contact an agent about other products.”

Other questions asked would include name, age, gender, date of birth, and the frequency of payments, the amount of coverage and the savings component. This yields a quote of the monthly premium.

Shepherd said at this point the application could be saved and the applicant would receive a provisional policy number which they can use to continue the application immediately or at another time.

The rest of the application process involves the application providing employment information, a mailing and billing address, forms of photo ID, legal and financial information and billing information. The applicant can then review the information provided, change any inaccurate information, confirm the accuracy of the information provided, confirm the terms and conditions and submit the application. They would then upload documents such as their photo ID and proof of address.

Shepherd said the application would be processed within two business days, unless additional information was needed, or queries had to be made. She said the agent specified would be notified that an application had been made and would contact the applicant.

She said applicants and current clients could use the e-Service portal to do business entirely online. She said premium payments could be made online using credit and Visa debit cards. She said the provisional policy could be printed and taken to a Sagicor office if the person did not have access to an online payment method. She said payments could be applied within 48 hours.

Shepherd said the eLife project took nine months from conception to launch, but since the initial launch, the company has been making initial updates and upgrades. She said eventually other types of products would be available on the platform.

Executive vice president Ronald Blitstein said the product was extremely secure, as security had been considered since the conception of the platform.

“Security has to be top of mind when building any platform, and the issues that tend to pop up tend to stem from, has security been built in at the beginning or has it been overlaid at the end? When you overlay at the end, you invariably miss something. Our process has been very focused on designing with security in mind, at which we’ve applied best practices from across the globe in terms of how best to ensure and assure that transactions and personal data are properly protected.”