Karachi: HABIBMETRO Bank and EFU Life strengthened their partnership by taking the initiative to launch “COVID – 19 Cover” – a first-of-its-kind product that aims to provide a financial solution to HABIBMETRO customers who are financially and medically impacted during the ongoing pandemic.

A digital signing ceremony was conducted, where Mr. Mohsin Ali Nathani, President & CEO and Ahmed Shah Durrani, Head – Retail Banking at HabibMetro Bank, along with Mr. Taher G Sachak, CEO & MD and Mr. Mohammed Ali, CSO & ED at EFU Life, signed the product agreement at their respective premises.

The unique product, COVID-19 Cover, is a protection plan designed to cover the reimbursement of diagnostic test and daily hospitalization charges while also offering term life death benefit for individuals and families, with a premium starting from as low as PKR 1,400. Once launched, the plan will be available at HabibMetro Bank’s branches across Pakistan.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Taher G Sachak, CEO & MD EFU Life said, ‘COVID – 19 Cover is carefully designed to address the financial needs of the masses and protect them medically against ongoing pandemic. The new addition of product is an affordable solution and a small step towards assuring the financial safety and peace of mind for the valuable customers of HabibMetro Bank.’

Mr. Mohsin Ali Nathani, President & CEO of HabibMetro Bank commented, ‘We are pleased to cater to the need-of-the-hour and collaborate with EFU to offer the COVID – 19 Cover Protection Plan as a very relevant financial solution in a timely manner during the ongoing pandemic.’

About HABIBMETRO Bank
HabibMetro Bank commenced commercial banking operations in October 1992 and currently operates with an expanding nationwide network of over 398 branches in more than 130 cities across Pakistan. HabibMetro Bank is committed to offering unparalleled service through innovative financial offerings.

About EFU Life Assurance Ltd.
EFU Life Assurance Ltd started operations in November 1992 as the first private sector life insurance company. In early 1993, EFU Life commenced its Group life insurance business and by March 1994, the company began writing its individual life business. EFU life a leading life insurance company of Pakistan remains committed in serving the masses and addressing the pandemic via a low cost solution and the plan would ease the burden of testing and hospitalization.

EFU Life, the leading Life Insurance Company of Pakistan, remains committed in serving its valuable clients and addressing the financial needs of the masses during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Keeping up with its gesture of solidarity with the country during these challenging times, EFU Life introduces “COVID-19 Protect”, a protection plan designed to cover the financial burden due to Coronavirus. The plan is available on EFU Life’s BuyNow Platform and covers reimbursement of diagnostic test, daily hospitalization cash assistance and death benefit, at a premium amount starting from as low as Rs.699. COVID-19 Protect offers both Individual and Family Plan, and has three product variants, Silver, Gold and Platinum that one can choose from.

You can now experience a complete peace of mind by protecting yourself and your family against COVID-19, with the facility to purchase the product online from the safety of your homes with various options for premium payments.

Mr. Taher G Sachak, MD & CEO EFU Life expressed his views on the launch. “COVID-19 Protect Plan is one of the many efforts by EFU Life to provide contemporary, yet affordable financial planning solutions to individuals and families when they need them the most. The ongoing Pandemic has indeed brought many challenges to the world and this new addition to our product range is a small step towards assuring the financial wellbeing and peace of mind of our clients’.

Earlier this month, the Company had launched COVID-19 Care, Pakistan’s first complimentary benefit of Rs.100,000 for all its individual life clients with the aim of providing financial protection against COVID-19. This Complimentary benefit is in addition to the contractual benefits from the existing policy. Additionally, an extension of grace period in premium payments was given to all policyholders from the standard 30 days to 75 days.

EFU Life, the leading life insurance company in the country, announces further measures to alleviate the potential impact of COVID-19 for its customers and employees.

After introducing ‘COVID-19 Care’, the first life insurer in Pakistan to offer complimentary coverage for coronavirus related deaths, the Company announced that it is extending the Grace Period for premium payments from the standard 30 days to 75 days for all its customers.

All policies with Due Dates falling on March 1 and April 1, 2020, will have 75 days to pay their premium, without the loss of insurance benefits laid out in the Provisions and Conditions.

This is to ensure that policyholders will be spared from the worries of paying insurance premiums while the coronavirus pandemic grips the country.

‘We understand the situation faced by our customers, and offering complimentary coverage of Rs 100,000 as well as extending the Grace Period for premiums payment is our small way of trying to help ease our clients’ financial burden and emotional distress in these challenging times,’ shared EFU Life’s CEO, Mr. Taher Sachak.
‘As we navigate through this unprecedented public health crisis, we are committed to our policyholders and will continue to honour our obligations to ensure that they have the peace of mind’, said Mr. Sachak.

Mr. Sachak also highlighted that EFU Life’s Head Office continues to remain operational through the implementation of ‘Work From Home’ (WFH) policy for its key employees to ensure that essential policy servicing for its clients remains uninterrupted.

‘As the most digitally-connected life insurance company, EFU Life can render services to customers even at this trying time, via its online channels, its client app ‘EFU Life PlanIT’ and employees working remotely. We want to assure the public that we are taking all necessary steps to be responsive to the call for corporate citizenship by addressing all customer concerns about servicing while taking care of the health and well-being of our employees,’ he said.

EFU Life has always placed its clients first. With the current pandemic COVID-19, it has become paramount to the Company to ensure the safety and wellbeing of its clients, employees and communities. Staying true to our promise of serving the people of Pakistan, we stand together with our clients.

EFU Life brings “COVID-19 Care”, Pakistan’s first complimentary benefit for all individual life clients of the Company with the aim of providing financial assistance for COVID-19. In the unfortunate event that an insured client passes away due to COVID-19, a lump sum amount of Rs 100,000 will be paid to the beneficiary in addition to the contractual death benefits from the existing policy. This complimentary cover is applicable on all new and inforce individual unit linked plans of the Company (conventional and takaful business) effective from 23 March 2020 and covers policyholders while in Pakistan.

Mr Taher G Sachak, MD & CEO EFU Life shared his views on the launch: “COVID-19 Care” is a small step of EFU Life to show our commitment towards caring for our clients and their families in these testing times. The potential impact of COVID-19 on our society and country is unprecedented and as the leading life insurer in Pakistan, I want to assure our clients and partners that EFU Life is fully geared to fulfill all its obligations towards you and provide the necessary support in this challenging time.”

EFU Life Assurance Ltd. and Oraan have joined hands for financial inclusion, awareness and inclusive insurance solutions via digital channel. As the leading life insurance company of Pakistan, EFU Life has a strategic focus on creating partnerships that enable access to formal financial services so that a larger segment of our population can avail its benefits. Oraan is a digital platform for Committee management, which enables individuals to meet their savings goals in a safe and transparent manner. EFU Life will provide financial protection to Oraan users so that their savings goals are met regardless of financial constraints caused by unfortunate events.

The agreement was signed by Mr. Mohammed Ali Ahmed, ED and Chief Strategy Officer, EFU Life, and Ms. Halima Iqbal, CEO Oraan. Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Ahmed said, “Over the last few years, EFU Life has focused on making insurance simple, accessible and affordable for the masses of Pakistan, especially women and youth, who are generally financially excluded. Our partnership with Oraan is an important step in this direction and their work is commendable. As part of our vision for mass scale inclusive insurance impact, we believe in the collaboration model and are utilizing various platforms and digital ecosystems in our country to reach out to all socio-economic segments for inclusive insurance solutions.”

Ms. Halima Iqbal said that she was excited to partner with EFU Life to bring a larger part of the population into the formal financial economy. Speaking about offering insurance as a value-added benefit to Oraan users, she said, “Many of us choose to ignore the reality of what would happen if we were to die suddenly without the proper protection; the Committee Protection Plan not only protects the entire group but also provides the safety to the family of the participant in case of un-foreseen events.”

EFU Life Assurance Limited, the leading life insurance provider in the country, has been recognized at an international forum yet again. After winning at the Dragons of Asia Awards, with the ‘Blue dragon’ for Best Campaign in Pakistan and Gold Dragon for ‘Best Use of Media’ in APAC region, EFU Life was recognized at the 33rd Marketing Agencies Association Worldwide Awards Ceremony 2019 for its ‘Humrahi’ web series.

EFU Life was conferred the Gold Globe Award at the MAA Globes Award after winning against Campaigns from Hong Kong and Russia for the top spot in Best Use of Media category.

Since 1986, ‘Marketing Agencies Association Worldwide’ remains the elite results driven Global Award programme recognizing the very best Marketing Communications Campaigns from all over the world.

EFU Life collaborated with media agency, Mediavest Pakistan to successfully execute the campaign thus humanizing the brand across digital media.