GXBank, Zurich General Insurance Malaysia and Zurich Life Insurance Malaysia have agreed a 10-year exclusive bancassurance tripartite partnership. The aim is to co-create micro protection products for underserved Malaysians.

GXBank was the first of five digital bank licence applicants to receive regulatory approval to commence operations. The bank’s CEO and MD, Pei Si Lai, received RBI’s award for Asia Trailblazer of the year at RBI’s annual Asia Trailblazer awards in March.

GX Bank, Zurich partnership key highlights

The first product of the 10-year partnership, will be introduced in the third quarter of the year. It will protect underserved individuals from unauthorised transactions resulting from cyber-crime, as well as transactions initiated by electronic scam messages.

Leveraging intuitive technology and data-driven insights, GXBank will identify customer pain points and collaborate with Zurich Malaysia to develop innovative digital insurance products that are simple, easy-to-understand, and affordable.

Recent surveys have shown alarming statistics. For example, 84% of the uninsured population are between 18-34 years old.

Equally as concerning is that 58% of adults in Malaysia do not have any life or takaful insurance.

The situation is exacerbated by the rising cyber-crimes in the country. Online fraud cases have doubled over 5 years from 2019 to 2023. Losses in 2023 (January to November) are estimated at MYR1.3bn ($274.1m)

This partnership aligns with GXBank’s mission to provide custom banking solutions and Zurich Malaysia’s commitment to empower the financially vulnerable.