Niaga offers Prudential insurance

Niaga offers Prudential insurance

JAKARTA: Bank Niaga signed on Tuesday a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) with London-based insurance company PT
Prudential Life Assurance to provide life insurance protection
for the bank's clients.

The insurance is offered only to Bank Niaga customers who take
a homeowner loan. Prudential will cover the remainder of the loan
should the debtor pass away or become permanently disabled during
the term of the loan.

Bank Niaga head of consumer banking development Lynna A
Muliawan said that the move was an attempt to provide a more
comprehensive service and to increase customer confidence in the
bank.

She added that the insurance payment procedure was simple
because clients could pay through their accounts.

Prudential vice president Choo Sin Fook said that Bank Niaga's
housing debtors were not automatically required to take insurance
from Prudential.

"It's up to them whether they wish to use our service or
another company's," he said.

Bank Niaga currently also cooperates with another insurance
company, Signa. The bank has at least 1.2 million customers
nationwide. In 2003, it booked an unaudited Rp 466.94 billion
(US$54.9 million) profit. In 2002, the bank's unaudited profit
was Rp 141.12 billion. -- JP