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