SBI insurance arm plans cyber security product

In the wake of recent massive malware attacks and breach of debit and credit cards, SBI General Insurance, a joint venture between SBI (74%) and Insurance Australia Group (26%), is mulling to launch a product to protect against such cyber security woes.

“We are planning to launch the product in this fiscal. Also, with an increasing number of digital transactions, wallets, and so on, we need such a product, and it will be a comprehensive one,” SBI General Insurance MD and CEO Pushan Mahapatra said. SBI General Insurance, which started its operations in 2010, broke even last fiscal, with net profit of Rs 153 crore and a Gross Written Premium of Rs 2,607 crore.

“Our growth in the first quarter of this fiscal was 32%, whereas, the industry growth was 23%. We are growing ahead of the industry, and our market share is 2.1% in the industry size of Rs 1.27 lakh crore. We want to take this to 5% in five years,” he said, adding that the general insurance penetration in the country is just 0.7%. The company’s growth in the last fiscal year was mainly driven by crop insurance. This year, it is expecting good growth and crop insurance is also growing significantly well, considering the fact that the government is pushing towards increasing the coverage under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana scheme.

“We are participating in crop insurance in Karnataka this fiscal, and the Karnataka market is very critical for us in our growth. There is a vast untapped potential in the state of Karnataka,” Mahapatra said, adding that the insurance company has five branches in the state, and it is also planning to launch one more soon.

With 110 branches across the country and 2,700 employees, the insurance company is looking at products that are simple and can be marketed through a wide variety of channels. Apart from a new product in cyber security, it is also looking at the health space.

When asked whether SBI General Insurance is looking for IPO, as New India Assurance and GIC of India filed IPO papers recently, the MD and CEO said, “We are looking at going public in medium term.”