The Postal Savings Bank of China has continued to grow in performance by relying on its network advantages to sell insurance on an agency basis. However, "chaos" such as certificates of deposit being changed into insurance policies and salesmen operating illegally on behalf of customers
" China Technology Investment " Yang Yongjie
Recently, a user reported to " A reporter from China Science and Technology Investment said that when his wife was handling deposit business at a branch of Postal Savings Bank of China (601658.SH) in Zhoukou, he was "induced" by the staff to purchase financial insurance. The staff promised that the product would have high returns and would be available five years later. Can be withdrawn at any time. However, the user said that his lover did not know in advance that the product was actually a whole life insurance product. After many rights protections, the insurance company has refunded part of the amount. The branch promised that the remaining amount will be compensated by the bank and is "going through the process."
Another user said that when his mother was applying for a deposit at a branch of the Postal Savings Bank, the bank's salesperson recommended a "deposit product". She deposited 10,000 yuan a year and could receive 40,000 yuan after depositing for three years. After the user downloaded the APP, he discovered that the product was actually a whole life insurance product of China Post Life Insurance Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as " China Post Life ") and did not have any dividends.
The regulatory authorities stipulate that on-site sales of insurance must be audio and video recorded during processing to ensure that the process is traceable. At the same time, commercial insurance agents must not mix insurance products with savings deposits, funds, bank financial products and other products for sale. It is not allowed to simply compare the income of insurance products with the above-mentioned products, and it is not allowed to exaggerate the income of insurance products. Postal Savings Bank may have violated regulations.
Valet operation induced to buy insurance
"I saved money during the day, but when I got home at night, I found that there was no balance in the bank card. My wife went to the bank the next day to question and found out that he had spent 30,000 yuan to buy an insurance." Mr. Wang told This is how a reporter from "China Science and Technology Investment" described it.
Mr. Wang said that his wife, Ms. Ren, applied for a bank card and deposited money at a postal savings bank branch in Zhoukou in May. The staff recommended to her that she could buy a "financial management product". The user deposited 10,000 yuan per year in the first three years. After three years, you can withdraw the principal at any time in the fifth year and receive thousands of yuan in income. At that time, Ms. Ren had no specific concept of financial products, so she immediately purchased the product and deposited 30,000 yuan in one lump sum.
After returning home, Ms. Ren logged into the Postal Savings Bank APP and found that her deposit balance was zero. She went to the branch the next day to ask the staff, who replied that they were dealing with insurance and assured Ms. Ren that the product would be profitable. After discussing with Mr. Wang, Ms. Ren decided to surrender the policy. When she went to the Postal Savings Bank branch again, the staff said that the 15-day hesitation period had passed and only part of the principal could be refunded when she surrendered the policy.
What puzzled Mr. Wang was that when the Postal Savings Bank staff applied for insurance for his wife, they did not explain that the product was insurance, nor did they explain the detailed terms of the insurance. Afterwards, Mr. Wang complained to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and related platforms about the branch. Postal Savings Bank staff contacted Mr. Wang and promised to handle it after verifying the situation.
As of press time, the insurance company has refunded 17,000 yuan to Ms. Ren, and the remaining 13,000 yuan will be refunded by the Postal Savings Bank. The bank said it was "going through the process."
Coincidentally, the mother of Ms. Zhou (pseudonym) was also induced by a Postal Savings Bank clerk to buy an insurance product with high interest rates. When her mother was applying for a deposit at a branch of the Postal Savings Bank, she was recommended to buy a "deposit product" by the bank's salesperson. The salesperson said that if you deposit 10,000 yuan a year, you can receive 40,000 yuan after depositing for three years. Ms. Zhou said that her mother recalled that the salesperson handled the product for more than a dozen elderly people at the same time that day. It is worth noting that at that time, the salesperson said that the signal in the lobby was weak, took the elderly mobile phone and went to the bathroom alone to operate it, and directly put the product into the bathroom. The product was processed successfully.
* Screenshot of the insurance product handled by Ms. Zhou’s mother, Ms. Zhou provided
Ms. Zhou discovered on the Postal Savings Bank APP that the product was actually “China Post Yearly Postal Insurance Lifetime A Whole Life Insurance”, which is a product of China Post Life Insurance Whole life insurance products do not have any bonuses. Subsequently, Ms. Zhou complained to the bank. The branch recently refunded the premium in full and said it had dealt with the salesperson.
A senior insurance practitioner told reporters that whole life insurance generally only pays insurance benefits when the insured dies or is totally disabled. It is not a financial management product as described by the salesperson. The above-mentioned bank salesperson is actually deceiving consumers. By.
According to the "Notice of the China Banking Regulatory Commission on Further Strengthening the Compliance Sales and Risk Management of Commercial Banks' Agency Insurance Business", when conducting agency insurance business, commercial banks shall not mix and sell insurance products with savings deposits, funds, bank wealth management products and other products. The income of insurance products shall not be simply compared with the above-mentioned products, nor shall the income of insurance products be exaggerated.
The original China Insurance Regulatory Commission issued the "Interim Measures for the Traceability Management of Insurance Sales Behavior " in 2017, which requires double registration of the sales of major insurance types on the market, such as critical illness insurance, participating insurance , and universal insurance. Insurance double registration refers to Relevant sales agencies must collect audio-visual materials and electronic data through audio and video recording and other technical means to record and preserve key aspects of the insurance sales process so that sales actions can be played back, important information can be queried, and problem responsibilities can be confirmed. According to the user's description, the above-mentioned Postal Savings Bank branch staff did not perform this operation.
In response to related issues such as illegal handling of insurance services by some branches of Postal Savings Bank of China, the reporter sent a letter to the bank. As of the time of publication, no reply has been received.
In addition, many users have complained on the platform that Postal Savings Bank staff induced and operated insurance services on behalf of customers. Postal Savings Bank has been subject to regulatory penalties for related behaviors: Jilin Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau announced on June 16 The Administrative Penalty Information Disclosure Form shows that the Jilin Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau fined the Changchun Lujia Street Branch of the Postal Savings Bank of China 200,000 yuan for illegal activities of purchasing insurance products on behalf of customers.
* Other user complaints, screenshots from Black Cat Complaints platform
Relying on outlets to develop insurance agency business
According to public information, Postal Savings Bank has more than 40,000 business outlets. Relying on the advantages of outlets, Postal Savings Bank continues to add policy premiums The income from insurance agency sales continued to grow. At the same time, China Post Life took advantage of Postal Savings Bank's huge network distribution advantages to develop insurance business. The cooperation between the two parties relies on the common largest shareholder - China Post Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as " China Post "). According to the Postal Savings Bank's annual report, China Post's shareholding ratio is 65.34%.
Postal Savings Bank 2020 annual report data shows that the bank’s agency premiums for new insurance policies for regular payments were 75.941 billion yuan, and new insurance premiums for protection products were 71.619 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 29.49% and 51.37% respectively. Postal Savings Bank’s insurance agency business has developed rapidly. .
Among them, China Post Life Insurance, through its distribution partnership with Postal Savings Bank of China, reaches approximately 40,000 financial outlets of the bank and more than 600 million retail customers. Currently, China Post Life sells products in 21 provinces, covering 80% of Postal Savings Bank’s distribution network. Annual report data shows that the revenue recognized by Postal Savings Bank's self-operated outlets for providing agency services to China Post Life has increased year by year. At the end of 2020, the business revenue was 347 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 70.94% from 203 million yuan in 2019.
* Postal Savings Bank’s income from insurance agency sales has increased year by year. Chart based on bank annual report data
This model is attracting other insurance companies to get a share of the pie.According to the announcement of AIA Group (01299.HK), its wholly-owned subsidiary AIA (hereinafter referred to as " AIA ") invested 12.033 billion yuan to subscribe for 24.99% of the post-investment equity of China Post Life Insurance Company. After the successful capital increase, AIA became the second largest shareholder of China Post Life. Before this capital increase, China Post, the largest shareholder of China Post Life Insurance, held 50.92% of the shares, Beijing China Post Asset Management Co., Ltd. held 20% of the shares, China Philatelic Co., Ltd. held 16.25% of the shares, and Postal Science and Technology Planning Institute Co., Ltd. held 12.83% of the shares. %.
"China Technology Investment" will continue to pay attention to the business cooperation development between AIA, China Post Life Insurance and Postal Savings Bank.
