Get advice, then buy your own life insurance online via NTUC Income

NTUC Income has launched Online Life and askSage, its life insurance portal and digital adviser for life insurance respectively.

Peter Tay, Income’s COO, heads the company’s Digital Transformation Office. He said, “The integrated proposition of Online Life and askSage is powerful because, for the first time, consumers are supported with digital assets that enable self-service of life insurance seamlessly online from fact-finding, financial review and needs analysis to direct product identification, comparison and purchase.”

“For digital natives who primarily prefer online engagements, the integrated digital proposition is timely in extending their access to life insurance and closing their protection gap. This is significant as traditional outreach by financial advisers to this segment of the community has proven to be challenging,” Tay added.

While integrated, Online Life and askSage can be accessed separately. Online Life opens up life insurance options for direct purchase beyond the current slew of direct purchase insurance (DPI) options from Income. Income has made available on Online Life 18 savings and protection plans, of which six are riders (editor's note: add-ons to a basic plan), for direct purchase. This is the most comprehensive suite of digital life insurance products by an insurer in Singapore to date, the company said.

The life insurance portal helps consumers discover what best suits their financial needs at different life stages with product comparisons. Consumers can also customise premiums, the sum assured and policy duration on the portal. Depending on the type of life insurance plan and underwriting requirements, it will take about 15 minutes to complete the application and purchase journey on Online Life.

Digital adviser askSage is designed to help consumers make informed decisions and empowers self-service financial planning. The platform offers online financial reviews, after which consumers are offered a list of relevant products. Currently, askSage offers 25 Income savings and protection plans, which include six riders. To purchase life insurance, consumers can either purchase the products directly on Online Life or go through an Income financial adviser.

Consumers can address queries via live chat on both platforms. They can also leave their contact details so that an adviser can call them.

To further enhance consumer engagement, Income will be introducing a Personalised Adviser Store to its financial advisers in phases, starting in Q319. The store will allow advisers to build their online profiles and extend their outreach to consumers with selected product links, promotions and value-added information such as blog articles.

Tay said, “We understand that purchasing life insurance is a long-term commitment and requires careful consideration. It helps that Income is sensitive to consumers’ painpoints and are set to bring life insurance closer to them by offering not just product diversity but also flexibility with our touch-points to offer them seamless online-to-offline customer support when needed.

"As we build our digital capability to stay relevant in today’s digital age, we are also integrating our distribution channel in our digital propositions to strengthen our offering as a multichannel insurer. This is essential in offering our policyholders an unparalleled customer experience with insurance.”

Explore:

Online Life and askSage

NTUC Income RUN 350 2016 welcomes groups of 25 or more

Source: NTUC Income RUN 350 website.

NTUC Income RUN 350, organised by Young NTUC, is a Singapore eco-run in support of the global 350 movement. The movement aims to raise awareness of the need to lower the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million (ppm), which is believed by scientists to be the level required for a liveable planet. Today, the level of CO2 is over 400 parts per million. 

RUN 350 was first held in 2010 at Pulau Ubin and saw 1,000 runners coming forward to run for the 350 movement. By 2015, RUN 350 grew more than 10 times to almost 12,000 runners participating.

The race will be held on 10 April 2016, at the F1 Pit Building, with an expected crowd of 13,000. The event includes a 21.1km half-marathon, 10km competitive race and 800m Kids Dash. In 2016, a new non-competitive category, Fun On Wheels, will be introduced.

Fun on Wheels aims to showcase the ease and availability of environmentally friendly transport options. Participants of this category will cycle, in-line skate or kick scoot through 4km of flat terrain. All finishers will walk away with a finisher’s medal at the finish line.

Interested?

Read the rules & regulations for the Fun on Wheels category

Register. All registered participants enjoy 30% discount off Mizuno regular-priced products at World of Sports and Mizuno stores. 

To register as a group of 25 or more, email info at run350.com for more information.

DBS receives NTUC Women's Development Secretariat SG50 Special Award

DBS has received the NTUC Women’s Development Secretariat (WDS) SG50 Special Award in recognition of its dedicated flexible working programme and employee support schemes designed to help staff better manage their time and balance their professional and personal needs. 

Said Cheong Meng Foong, Managing Director, Group Human Resources – Reward: “We adopt a holistic approach in creating a workplace where employees feel empowered, connected and valued. As a company that has a diverse workforce, we understand that our employees will have different needs at various phases of their lives and have put in place a number of initiatives to encourage staff to take charge of their career progression and to promote greater work life integration.”

Instead of adopting a one-size-fits-all policy, DBS offers staff benefits that meet different needs. These include:

- Flexible work arrangements

- Staff loans that generally offer better terms than commercial loans, helping staff who are looking to set up their homes make their first home in the early years of their careers

- Re-employment at 62 on terms that are better than tripartite guidelines and industry norms in Singapore

- Free health screenings for all our employees, which at the same time helps DBS understand any possible health issues of its population for more targeted intervention

- Being the first to pioneer the “Shield Companion” Plan - a medical plan that complements employees’ portable enhanced MediShield plan, reducing duplication of medical coverage. The bank also pays a certain amount into their MediSave accounts to subsidise their portable medical plans premium.

Joyce Chua, DBS Assistant Vice President, Corporate Trust & Fund Services, has benefitted from the bank’s flexi-work arrangements. “DBS’ flexi-work scheme has given me the opportunity to spend more quality time with my three teenage children. I was a full-time stay-at-home mother for about three years before deciding to join the workforce again. Under the bank’s part-time work arrangement, I managed to work out an arrangement that would allow me to work four full days a week instead of the standard five-day working week. This made the transition back to work easier for me," she said. 

"Now that I have a day off during the week, I am able to have a longer meal with my children on a weekday, and they will in turn share with me what is happening in their schools and the different problems they face – something that I think would not be possible if I had less time. Through this, I also get to know their friends better. What makes this all possible are my supportive managers and colleagues, who understand the situation I’m in, and whom I know will step up to help me in a heartbeat.”

One of DBS' flexi-work arrangements is Flexi-Time. While official working hours are from 8.30am to 6.00pm, full-time employees may choose their starting and finishing work hours  provided they complete a stipulated number of hours. For example, staff can commence work an hour earlier at 7.30am and end the day at 5.00pm, or commence work an hour later at 9.30am and end the day at 7.00pm. Line managers are encouraged to schedule meetings during the core working hours between 9:30am and 4:30pm.

Employees may also consider part-time work - fewer fixed hours per day or fewer full days per week - or to take unpaid leave beyond their earned annual leave entitlement period. This arrangement is highly valued by employees, especially in cases where they wish to follow their spouses on overseas assignments or do overseas volunteer work for a few months.

Two DBS employees also won awards in the Most Supportive Colleague category: Samantha Lau, Assistant Vice President, T&O-SG-Customer Centre, and Delia Tan, Analyst, T&O-SG-Customer Centre.

RUN 350 extends early bird to 18 January in Singapore

Source: RUN 350 website.

The NTUC Income RUN 350, organised by Young NTUC, is an eco-run in support of the global 350 movement. The movement aims to raise awareness to the need to lower atmospheric CO2 levels to 350 parts per million, which scientists believe is the level required for Earth's sustainability.

First held in 2010 at Pulau Ubin, RUN 350 saw 1,000 runners participate. The next year, aided by NTUC Income, RUN 350 grew to 7,200 runners. Last year, more than 12,000 runners were involved.

The 2015 run will be held on 5 April 2015, starting off from the F1 Pit Building at 5am.

The early bird fees,extended till 18 January, are $40 for 10km (men and women) and S$50 for 21.1km (men and women). From 19 January they will be S$55 and S$65 respectively. Group registrations for groups of 25 or more are supported; email info@run350.com for more information. There are also discounts for loyal runners and NTUC Income members.