Ayudhya Capital Auto Lease, better known as Krungsri Auto under Bank of Ayudhya (BAY), aims for 200 million baht in motor insurance premiums and 300,000 visitors a month in the first year after its insurance website aggregator was launched yesterday.
The auto lender plans to extend insurance products available at the online channel operated by subsidiary Krungsri Auto Broker to home and factory insurance at the start of next year, adding life insurance by the end of 2020 to keep pace with customer demand in the digital age, said chairman Pairote Cheunkrut.
Digital platforms have increasingly become a vital part of the shopping experience, he said, noting that a Bain survey found that 60% of non-life insurance customers have used mobile devices for product research.
"However, most customers still feel hesitant when choosing motor insurance products online because the premium does not match their planned budget and there are limited choices," Mr Pairote said. "So we launched the Krungsri Auto Broker website as the digital platform to enable customers to search and compare insurance products offered by the company's eight motor insurer partners."
At the website, customers can fill out their budget, insurance class and coverage details such as sum insured or deductible, and the platform will compare premiums and coverage and highlight the recommended conditions to assist customers with decision-making.
Mr Pairote said the company aims for its insurance aggregator to capture a 5% market share of the total online insurance market, estimated at 3-4 billion baht.
The company believes in the online insurance platform as a major step to build Krungsri Auto's ecosystem and level up the country's auto loan business standards, he said.
Ayudhya Capital Auto Lease last year launched Krungsri Prompt Start, an online motor loan website, as part of its digital strategy. The auto loan website had nearly 700,000 viewers last year, while 100 million baht worth of auto loans were extended.
The company targets a 3% increase in new loans to 199 billion baht, and its total loans are expected to surpass the 400-billion-baht threshold by the year-end.
Ayudhya Capital extended 193 billion baht worth of new auto loans, raising its loans outstanding to 368 billion baht at the end of last year.
For Krungsri Auto Broker, 2019 insurance premiums are targeted at 8 billion baht, of which 3 billion will come from traditional motor insurance.