Community Literacy For The Insurance Industry Is Still Low

BRI Insurance (BRINS) Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Sony Harsono WS. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - BRI Insurance (BRINS) Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Sony Harsono WS said the public literacy index for the insurance industry, especially general insurance, is still very low.

"This means that the public's understanding of the need for insurance protection is still very low," said Sony Harsono when giving a speech at the inauguration of BRINS Purwokerto's Marketing Representative Office (MRO), in Banyumas Regency, Central Java, quoted from Antara, Monday, March 20.

He said this happened to all levels of society, from the lower to the upper levels of society including MSME actors and so on.

So far, he said, the community literacy index which is classified as good is in financing or banking because the inclusion in the financial sector is also high.

"And indeed because the need is a need for financing, so like it or not, financing, savings for transactions, everything is running," he also said.

However, he said again, people like MSME actors sometimes forget when they get access to financing until they can finally be successful, without the suspicion of a disaster or an accident and so on, resulting in an effort that has been initiated to run out because they do not have protection.

"This is where BRINS comes to guard it," he said again.

In this regard, Sony said that on Monday he inaugurated the auxiliary branch office or MRO BRINS in Purwokerto to bring the general insurance company's services closer to the community.

In this case, he said, MRO Purwokerto was opened as an expansion and improvement of the old work unit which was originally at the Marking Channel (MC) level.

According to him, the increase in the status of the Purwokerto MRO work unit is part of implementing BRINS' business strategy, both in order to expand the distribution of conventional channels and to improve services to all customers as well as major cooperation institutions such as Bank BRI.

He admitted that some invited guests must be wondering, because now digital technology is experiencing very aggressive developments, but why is BRINS still opening an assistant branch office.

"For digital transformation, we have followed it because it is a necessity that we cannot leave it," he also said.

Therefore, he said again, his party is also developing several applications to serve people who need virtual insurance products in the form of BRINSmobile which can be accessed directly through Android and IOS-based smartphones.

When customers need insurance coverage or protection services for their assets, he said, they can do it at any time and anywhere through BRINSmobile and do not need to go to the BRINS office because everything can be done by themselves via smartphone.

"But in the development of this technology, we must not deny that at this time not all people already understand about gadgets. Many people also still need personal touch (personal contact, ed.), so this is where we need to get closer to clients," he also said.

Thus, he said, BRINS provides hybrid services, namely technology-based services and conventional services.

On that occasion, Sony said that before being taken over by Bank BRI as a subsidiary in 2019, BRINS' production in 2018 was only IDR 200 billion.

"Now, in 2022 we have reached production of IDR 2.6 trillion with an average increase in production of 15 percent constant. The profit before the 2022 audit has reached IDR 373 billion or an average increase of around 30 percent," he said again.