Easy travel and dengue protection, too CTPL insurance now at an SM near you

Truly, the local mall has evolved through the years from being a venue for recreation and shopping into a one-stop shop. It is now customary for people to do errands and a sundry of responsibilities that transcend ticking the grocery list, having a meal, and watching a movie.

The formula for success and growth of the SM Supermalls chain from its humble beginnings at Calle Echague in 1972 to a 59-strong nationwide network of huge destination shopping centers, avers SM Store president Chelo Monasterio, is borne of a “willingness to fully embrace change, and passion to satisfy evolving customer taste and preferences.”

Monasterio continues that SM started “the business center concept where customers can avail of remittances, bills payment, and government services – as well as selling of concert tickets all under the SM business services (umbrella).” Now, mall-goers have the added benefit of being able to apply for and secure insurance over the counter at SM Store Customer Service counters or its in-mall business centers.

The idea, explains BDO Insurance Brokers, Inc. general manager and senior vice president Maria Theresa Tan, came from BDO chair Teresita Sy-Coson. Around five years ago, the executive directed Tan to offer insurance at the mall. “She had seen the concept work in other countries, and sees no reason why it wouldn’t work in the Philippines,” she remarks.

Still, Tan voiced out her concern that it would prove challenging. “I told her (Sy-Coson) that markets in these countries have a better awareness and appreciation of insurance compared to the Philippines,” says Tan. “We both agreed on that… (and that) therein lay the opportunity. We had to start somewhere. If we could make insurance more accessible, then it would create better awareness. If we offered products that were simple enough to obtain over the counter, then it would increase people’s appreciation of what insurance is all about.”

The enlistment of longtime partner Pioneer as insurance underwriter completes the triumvirate which now seeks to make “insurance closer and more accessible to every Filipino.”

Launched under the umbrella name of Insure ME@SM (Insurance Made Easy at SM), mallers can now head over to business center or customer service counter at any SM location to enroll to any of three insurance products: travel insurance, dengue insurance, and compulsory third-party liability (CTPL) insurance for vehicles.

For his part, Pioneer president and retail organization head Lorenzo Chan Jr. confesses at the same press conference that the company is cognizant that retail insurance is not an easy sell. “Offering insurance is never easy because it is not a sexy product. Many associate it with unaffordable products, quick collection of premiums, delayed settlement of claims and lots of technical wordings and fine print that are hard to comprehend.”

Thus, it is Pioneer’s intention to “correct the stereotype” by “revolutionizing” the way it does insurance. He promises convenient enrollment, a simple and quick claims process, and relevant products that are readily available and affordable to the target market.” Chan says the company has insured some 8,000,000 lives by the end of 2016.

Part of simplifying the process is asking the customer to fill up fewer information fields. “We try to make it as accessible and comfortable as we can do, so (the application form) is not a stumbling block.” Determining the three offered products came from finding out what is relevant to Filipinos. “We don’t want to overdo it. There’s such a thing as the tyranny of choice,” stresses the Pioneer executive.

For Monasterio, Insurance@ME is also about being true to the SM’s hallowed motto. “(We are simply) leveraging on our footprint and being true to our claim that we’ve got it all for you,” she declares.