FWD Group and An Binh Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ABBANK) sign a 15-year exclusive bancassurance partnership agreement in HCM City on July 14. – VNS Photo Xuan Huong.

HCM

FWD will become ABBANK's bancassurance partner in Viet Nam, with the exclusive right to distribute its life insurance and saving products to the bank's customers.

Huynh Thanh Phong, FWD Group chief executive officer, said: "As one of the country's fastest growing banks, ABBANK shares our aim to bring a new, customer-led and digital approach to financial services."

Cu Anh Tuan, ABBANK's CEO, said bacassurance has great potential in Viet Nam since it currently accounts for only around 3 per cent of sales compared to more than 50 per cent in other Asian markets.

Anantharaman Sridharan, FWD Group representative, said, "FWD has officially entered the Vietnamese insurance industry, with the completion of our acquisition of Great Eastern Life Vietnam.

"We see the Viet Nam market as a huge opportunity, with the life insurance segment growing rapidly, similarly in the banking landscape."

The partnership will leverage FWD's regional expertise and digital technology and ABBANK's knowledge of the local market and its distribution network.

Headquartered in Hong Kong, FWD is the insurance business arm of investment group Pacific Century Group, offering life and medical insurance, employee benefits and general insurance.

ABBANK has 146 transaction sites in 29 provinces and cities, and over 608,100 individual customers and 20,600 corporate customers. — VNS