Insurance and Assistance linked to Payment Cards and Bank Accounts in Canada investigates the market for insurance and assistance policies linked to banking products in this country. Drawing on the results of an investigation covering 254 individual payment card and bank account products offered by 31 banking institutions and specialised card providers in Canada, the report analyses the provision of the following broad categories and types of insurance and assistance policy:

- accident / health cover: accidental death insurance, health / hospital cash plans, health assistance, personal accident insurance;

- creditor cover: creditor insurance – life / permanent disability, creditor insurance – temporary incapacity / unemployment;

- personal / identity protection cover: ATM cash theft insurance, card protection insurance, handbag / wallet insurance, identity protection assistance, identity protection insurance;

- shopping cover: extended warranty, price protection insurance, purchase protection insurance;

- travel cover: travel accident insurance, travel assistance, travel health insurance, travel inconvenience insurance, travel insurance - comprehensive;

- other cover: car hire insurance, home assistance, legal assistance, legal expenses insurance, missed event insurance, mobile gadget insurance, mobile phone insurance, personal liability insurance, road assistance, miscellaneous other insurance and assistance;

- concierge services.

Key features of this study include:

- quantification of the market size and segmentation for insurance and assistance linked to payment cards and bank accounts: approximately how much is the market worth in Canada, how does it break down by broad category, how much is funded by the banking institutions themselves and how much is paid for separately by customers?

- analysis of the operating models used by banking organisations for insurance and assistance linked to payment cards and bank accounts: to what extent do they use external underwriters as opposed to captive or joint venture providers?

- calculation of provider share of partnerships based on number of relationships and partner size: which providers of insurance and assistance services have been successful in establishing relationships for each broad category of cover with the most significant banking institutions and other card issuers or distributors?

- availability of an accompanying PartnerBASE™ dataset that details the availability or otherwise of each individual insurance or assistance enhancement to the 254 payment card and bank account products analysed in Canada.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

Introduction

Market Analysis

List of Graphics / Tables

 

0.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1.0 INTRODUCTION

What is this report about?

The provision of 30 forms of niche insurance and assistance is investigated in this study

Rationale

The new research builds upon that pioneered by Finaccord over a period of almost a decade in Europe

Methodology

Primary survey

The research covers 254 specific banking products offered by 31 banks and other organisations

Semi-weighted provider share of partnerships

Market size modelling

Operating models

Abbreviations

Definitions of specific types of insurance and assistance

PartnerBASE

Finaccord

 

2.0 MARKET ANALYSIS

Banks and other payment card issuers covered

Introduction to the banking market

The World Economic Forum rates Canada's banking system to be the most reliable anywhere

Introduction to the payment card sector

Credit cards remain dominant within a stagnant overall market for payment cards

Insurance and assistance linked to payment cards and bank accounts

Overview of payment card products analysed

Affinity, co-branded and retailer cards make up over 40% of the products researched

Broad types of insurance and assistance cover

A varied market for insurance and assistance products linked to credit cards is visible in Canada

Specific types of insurance and assistance cover

Creditor insurance is available in conjunction with the vast majority of credit cards analysed

Over a third of payment cards are embellished with comprehensive travel insurance

Provision rates tend to rise if premium products are analysed in isolation

Several policy types are funded entirely by the payment card issuers themselves

Operating models

External providers outnumber captives for all but two insurance and assistance types...

... albeit seven captive underwriters were visible in total

Competitor share of partnerships

Accident / health cover: ACE INA is the most visible provider in this field

Creditor cover: Two providers belonging to Assurant are most prominent in this segment

Personal / identity protection cover: Equifax has an important tie with a major Canadian banking group

Shopping-related cover: RBC Insurance is the most visible provider in this segment

Travel-related cover: RBC Insurance also leads the pack in this field by share of partnerships

Other cover: familiar providers are the most visible in this area

Concierge services: there are at least four providers in Canada's market for packaged concierge services

Market size

Four categories of insurance and assistance attract premiums worth USD 100 million or more

Cover acquired though payment of an additional fee makes up close to 60% of the total market value

 

LIST OF GRAPHICS / TABLES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

0.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1.0 INTRODUCTION

2.0 MARKET ANALYSIS

Number of debit and credit cards in Canada, 2009 to 2013

Key metrics for debit and credit cards in Canada, 2009 to 2013

Specific types of insurance and assistance policy researched, grouped by broad category

Summary of payment card products analysed in Canada, segmented by category, 2013

Summary of payment card products analysed in Canada, segmented by category, 2013 (table)

Relative weight of insurance and assistance policies linked to payment card products in Canada, segmented by broad type of cover, 2013

Penetration of specific types of insurance and assistance linked to payment card products in Canada, 2013: all products

Penetration of specific types of insurance and assistance linked to payment card and bank account products in Canada, 2013: premium products only

Split of specific type of insurance and assistance linked to payment card and bank account products in Canada between automatic cover and cover available for an additional fee, 2013

Operating models used for insurance and assistance policies linked to payment card and bank account products in Canada, segmented by specific type of cover, 2013

Competitor share of partnerships for accident / health insurance and assistance policies linked to payment card and bank account products in Canada, 2013

Competitor share of partnerships for creditor insurance policies linked to payment cards in Canada, 2013

Competitor share of partnerships for personal / identity protection insurance and assistance policies linked to payment card and bank account products in Canada, 2013

Competitor share of partnerships for shopping-related insurance policies linked to payment card and bank account products in Canada, 2013

Competitor share of partnerships for travel-related insurance and assistance policies linked to payment card and bank account products in Canada, 2013

Competitor share of partnerships for other insurance and assistance policies linked to payment card and bank account products in Canada, 2013

Competitor share of partnerships for concierge services linked to payment card and bank account products in Canada, 2013

Estimated gross written premiums for insurance and assistance linked to payment cards and bank accounts in Canada, segmented by broad type of cover, 2013 (USD million)

Estimated gross written premiums for insurance and assistance linked to payment cards and bank accounts in Canada, segmented by cover acquired automatically and cover acquired through payment of an additional fee, 2013 (USD million)