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Bank insurance refers to everything from insurance underwriting by banks or their affiliates to corporate cross-shareholdings of bank and insurance interests.
It includes asset management of insurance products by banks and the cross-marketing or cross-selling of bank and insurance products by bank employees.
In its simplest and most basic form, bank insurance refers to the sale of insurance in, through and by institutions that accept deposits and extend loans.
In Europe, bank insurance is generally called bancassurance or allfinanz.
Insurance sales and underwriting by banks
are increasingly common throughout Australia, Europe and Asia.
In Australia and some European countries, banks manufacture and distribute insurance products.
Not surprisingly, insurance activities constitute a growing portion of the net income of overseas banking groups.
In the United States, bank insurance powers, until November 1999,
were largely limited. While there have been a handful of exceptions, U.S. commercial banks, savings banks, thrifts, credit unions, related affiliates, and bank holding companies could not manufacture or underwrite noncredit-related insurance products.
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