This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on April 25, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: While tough economic conditions have taken their toll on businesses, insurer Allianz Malaysia Bhd is adopting unconventional ways to cultivate sales.

Allianz Malaysia, part of Germany’s Allianz Group, acknowledges the challenges brought by the current slowdown. Insurance products are considered to be less of a priority.

In an email reply, Allianz Malaysia chief executive officer Zakri Khir told The Edge Financial Daily that Allianz Malaysia needed to expand out of its traditional markets.

The insurer has moved in this direction by forming new partnerships that will give it access to new markets, according to him.

“One way we have started to expand out of traditional markets is to venture into small-ticket insurance partnerships that give us access to new markets.

“Last year we started partnerships with ParkEasy, a parking application, and Recomn.com, a services provider, as we moved towards services on digital platforms.”

Additionally, last month Allianz Malaysia teamed up with Speedrent, an online platform for landlords to safeguard themselves against runaway tenants, tardy paymasters and damages.

Zakri said Allianz Malaysia continues to further add value to services already being provided.

“In January this year, we also launched Allianz Road Rangers, which is part of the company’s motor claims transformation journey that aims to truly put its customers first.

“These partnerships allow us to not only diversify our business, but also to reach out and offer protection to new and existing customers at a great value,” said Zakri.

Zakri says Allianz Malaysia has increasingly recognised the rise of digital customers and has subsequently made efforts to increase digital initiatives to better cater to customers’ needs.

“For us at Allianz Malaysia, digitalisation and the advent of social media are trends very much to look out for,” said Zakri, adding that using the Internet and social media would enable the group to reach out to the younger generation.

He said the group has made significant investments in this area and will look into investing in more digital propositions including its distribution channels as well as the delivery of its products and services.

To cater to customers online, the group has recently launched Allianz Online. Available on its website, Allianz Online features easy-to-understand products that customers can conveniently purchase online.

“We also make sure customers only have to follow about three to five steps when purchasing a product online to ensure that the platform is easy and hassle-free for them.

“The platform represents a huge milestone for Allianz Malaysia and will change the way customers interact with our company. Being able to complement these digital initiatives with a personal touch means we can offer the best of both worlds and truly remain customer-first,” said Zakri.

In the near future, Allianz Malaysia says it also plans to launch several core insurance services on mobile application platforms to keep pace with customer requirements of on-demand service availability.