With the third round of deposit rate cuts by major state-owned banks and a number of joint-stock banks this year, and the impact of the "good start" activities in 2024, the attractiveness of insurance products has increased relatively. The reporter noticed that some insurance marketers (also known as "** people") seized this opportunity to promote insurance products on social platforms such as Moments, but a few of them were misleading.
In this regard, industry experts said that the reduction of deposit interest rates is objectively good for the sales of insurance products, but false publicity and misleading sales will damage the rights and interests of consumers. To this end, insurance companies should establish and improve sales management systems and training systems, and the industry needs to increase institutional constraints on insurance institutions and marketers.
Disinformation is on the rise.
In the process of marketing, the phenomenon of false propaganda has risen again, and the slogans of some insurance marketers are suspected of selling anxiety and misleading. For example, "the opening system is closed on the same day" and "3% lifetime compound interest is about to be discontinued" ......
The State Administration of Financial Supervision and Administration's "Typical Cases on the Protection of Financial Consumer Rights and Interests" released in October also mentioned that insurance companies "did not conduct standard marketing and publicity, causing a large number of consumer disputes". For example, an insurance company's online platform promotes a certain "children's education fund", claiming that "the income of this product is higher than the bank interest", but it does not indicate that it is an insurance product. After purchasing it for one year, consumer Zhang found that the product was an insurance product and could not be "withdrawn" at any time, and if the policy was surrendered halfway, it would also cause losses. Zhang went to the online platform to find the sales page and found that the product had been removed from the shelves, and the page at the time of purchase had been deleted.
As for the reasons for the frequent misleading sales, Xu Yuchen, a founding member of the Chinese Association of Actuaries, said that on the one hand, it is difficult for consumers to obtain evidence of misleading sales, or consumers themselves do not understand false propaganda and misleading sales, and it is difficult to protect their own rights and interestsOn the other hand, the penalties for misleading sales are not severe enough. Some insurance companies may adopt inappropriate training methods and management systems, and the lack of insurance professional knowledge and skills of the insurers themselves will also lead to inappropriate publicity methods.
In fact, in terms of improving the quality of insurance personnel in the industry, the regulatory authorities have begun to establish a qualification grading system for insurance personnel, guide the establishment and improvement of sales management systems, and improve the professional quality of insurance personnel. In November, the Insurance Association of China issued the "Personal Insurance Personnel Sales Ability Qualification Level Standards (Life Insurance Direction) (Discussion Draft)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Discussion Draft") to some insurance companies, and the individual insurance personnel are divided into four levels, and the skill requirements and related knowledge requirements for the first person are progressive.
Wang **, a professor at the School of Insurance of the University of International Business and Economics, believes that the "Discussion Draft" is conducive to improving the professional quality and service ability of insurance people, enhancing the trust of customers in insurance people, and then improving the image and reputation of the insurance industry, and ultimately promoting the sustainable development of the entire industry.
Wang further said that in order to avoid misleading insurance sales, insurance institutions also need to pay attention to internal management and risk control, establish and improve the sales management system and training system, strengthen the training and management of people, and improve their professional quality and moral constraints. In terms of the industry, it is necessary to increase the institutional constraints on insurance institutions and people, and strengthen the education and protection of consumers.
There is still downward pressure on scheduled interest rates.
It is undeniable that large state-owned banks and a number of joint-stock banks have recently lowered deposit interest rates again, which objectively increases the attractiveness of some wealth management insurance products, which is conducive to the sales of insurance products. However, in the process of insurance sales, it is necessary to prevent a simple comparison between the bank deposit interest rate and the insurance predetermined interest rate or guaranteed interest rate, and it should be objectively recommended in combination with the needs of consumers. At the same time, the long-term impact of the reduction in deposit rates on the insurance industry cannot be ignored.
The reduction in bank deposit rates has generally benefited the sales of insurance products. Xu Yuchen told the reporter that some insurance products such as increased whole life insurance have a certain competitive relationship with long-term bank deposits. The overall reduction of the deposit interest rate is larger, especially the long-term deposit interest rate, which enhances the attractiveness of long-term wealth management insurance products and is good for insurance sales.
However, in the long run, the impact of the reduction in bank deposit rates may also be transmitted to the insurance industry, and there is still downward pressure on the scheduled interest rates of insurance products.
Wang ** said that in the current financial environment, especially the difficulty of equity investment, the reduction in the rate of return on the use of insurance funds, and the reduction of deposit interest rates, there is still some downward pressure on the scheduled interest rate of life insurance products.
Xu Yuchen believes that there were two interest rate cuts on bank deposits in September and December, with a total range of about 25 basis points to 30 basis pointsThe overall scheduled interest rate of insurance products in August was reduced by 50 basis points, which is relatively less frequent and larger. Therefore, in the short term, it is unlikely that the scheduled interest rate of insurance products will be lowered, but if banks continue to reduce interest rates, the cumulative reduction will exceed 50 basis points, and the possibility of another reduction in the scheduled interest rate of insurance products cannot be ruled out.
Reporter Leng Cuihua and trainee reporter Yang Xiaohan.