Digital push: LIC urged to double down on mobile-first outreach; focus on ‘insurance for all’, says Nagaraju

Financial Services Secretary M Nagaraju has asked the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to sustain its push on digital marketing and a mobile-first strategy to help achieve the national objective of “insurance for all”.Speaking at LIC’s strategy meet in Mumbai, Nagaraju said the insurer’s expanding digital outreach would be critical to widening coverage and improving customer engagement, particularly among first-time and small-ticket policyholders, PTI reported. He underlined the need for sustained follow-up to improve persistency ratios, especially in lower-value policies, according to a finance ministry statement.Nagaraju also flagged LIC’s systemic importance to the financial system, noting that the insurer is designated as a Domestic Systemically Important Insurer (D-SII) by regulator IRDAI. This status, he said, places a heightened responsibility on LIC, as its stability is closely linked to India’s overall financial stability.Highlighting LIC’s financial strength, the statement said the insurer has a consolidated assets under management (AUM) of Rs 57.23 lakh crore, with a yield of 8.9 per cent on policyholders’ funds and a strong solvency ratio. It added that this corpus could potentially be leveraged to incentivise the growth of startups and alternative investment funds.The secretary also pointed to LIC’s ongoing transformation of its product portfolio, marked by a strategic shift towards higher-growth, non-participating products. The continued adoption of digital tools and mobile-based platforms, he said, would be key to supporting this transition while expanding insurance penetration across the country.