Sberbank of Russia : Online adds new feature letting users take out investment life insurance policies

Investment life insurance policies (ILI) are now available via the Sberbank Online mobile app. With Sberbank life insurance's Dokhodny Kurs Online ILI policy, you can choose one of the three most popular strategies and get extra investment income once the policy matures.

You can sign an insurance contract in the Investments and Pensions section on the app's home page. The minimum one-time payment is RUB50,000, with the insurance term being three or five years. Customers can use the following investment strategies: Conservative Fund of Global Bonds, New Technologies 3.0, and Global Consumer Sector.

Igor Mamontov, Vice President, Director of Investments and Savings, Sberbank:

'We've added another turn-key investment solution to Sberbank Online, letting customers take out an investment life insurance policy in one click. Signing a life insurance contract using mobile banking is not just easier, it's also more advantageous than in branches. For example, with a remote signing of a five-year contract, the volume of invested funds increases by about 9%, which can potentially generate a higher yield on the product for a customer.'

Moving forward, Sberbank life insurance will be modifying ILI parameters within Sberbank Online: new investment strategies will be added to the Dokhodny Kurs Online program, which will also add new options for paying additional investment income. By the end of the year, an extended product card will become available in the mobile application, which will display your participation rate, the list of insured parties, beneficiaries, and insurance terms. Sberbank Online is also scheduled to add the option of obtaining a certificate from the IFTS for tax refunds.

Investment life insurance is designed for those who are ready to invest for three years or more, who care about one hundred percent protection of the initial investment, and at the same time understand that this limits the potential yield of the product. With ILI policies, a customer invests the entire amount of funds at a time and chooses an investment strategy. Among the additional benefits and advantages of the ILI is its special legal status, which ensures the inviolability of the invested money in property disputes and payouts to the persons specified in the contract at the end of the programs.

With ILI policies maturing in five years, you can have a 13% tax deduction on your installments, but no more than 15,600 a year, throughout the term of the policy.

Sberbank life insurance has been in the investment life insurance business since 2012, currently having some 350,000 valid ILI policies. As of September 30, 2020, classic ILI policies yield an average of 5.1% per annum.