Spanish bank ABANCA and France-based Credit Agricole's insurance arm Credit Agricole Assurances have agreed to create a 50/50 property and casualty (P&C) insurance joint venture (JV) with activities in Spain and Portugal.
Image: Credit Agricole's insurance unit to create JV with ABANCA. Photo: courtesy of Luc Bernard/Wikipedia.org.
In this connection, ABANCA and Crédit Agricole Assurances have signed a 30-year partnership to create and market simple and innovative products, self-service subscription, and omnichannel distribution with a priority on digital solutions.
The partnership will leverage ABANCA’s customer knowledge and the acquired scale of Crédit Agricole Assurances on the European insurance market. It is said to be perfectly in line with the ambitions listed out in the new medium-term plan of Crédit Agricole, which is aimed at strengthening the international activity of its insurance business.
The new joint venture is planned to cater to corporate clients and also individual customers having revenue under €2m (£1.8m). Its economic model will hinge on expertise in customer requirements, said the partners.
Crédit Agricole Assurances CEO Frédéric Thomas said: “The alliance between Crédit Agricole Assurances and ABANCA, an innovative player on its market, is a perfect illustration of the potential of our bancassurance model, which can be applied internationally through partnerships outside the Group, as we have already demonstrated in the past.
“We believe strongly that our “100% human 100% digital” approach will offer customers the choice of accessing financial services through any channel, from the most traditional to the most innovative.”
For the Spanish bank, insurance has been a strategic activity since it commenced operations in 2014. The bank is said to have reorganised the structure and has reformulated the economic model of the insurance sector.
Some of its activities in the insurance sector have been to roll out products like the flat rate and ON-OFF insurance solutions, and the integration of insurance in its mobile banking services app.
ABANCA chairman Juan Carlos Escotet Rodríguez said: “To achieve our growth objectives, we need to work with a powerful industry player that can complete our strengths.
“Crédit Agricole Assurances is an ideal candidate, not only because it is a benchmark player in Europe’s insurance sector but also because of its product knowledge, digital expertise and capacity to explore new commercial opportunities.”
The joint venture will be finalised after receiving approval from the competent authorities, said the partners.