FNB shifts gears as its insurance division positions itself among the country’s major players. Picture Credit: Memeburn
By Thulane Madalane
FNB’s insurance division — once described as the bank’s “well-hidden secret” — is no longer staying quiet. After years of explosive internal growth, the bank is now preparing to take on South Africa’s biggest insurance giants head-on, marking one of the most aggressive expansions in the country’s financial sector.
What started over a decade ago as a small, in-house life insurance offering has evolved into a full-scale insurance powerhouse, stretching across life cover, short-term insurance, and sophisticated commercial products. Until now, FNB Insure has built its empire almost entirely within the bank’s own customer base — a strategic move that has paid off.
From Internal Secret to External Threat – FNB Insure and Invest CEO Lee Bromfield revealed that the bank has successfully saturated its internal market, with around half of its mass-market banking clients now holding at least one FNB insurance product. Life insurance has been the standout performer, with FNB’s internal data showing that 60–70% of all life insurance debit orders from its customers flow directly to FNB Insure.
This firm foundation has given the division the confidence — and the momentum — to expand beyond the walls of the FNB ecosystem. “Penetration into FNB’s client base has gone very well. Now we can actually go and sell to the open market,” Bromfield said.
While outsiders may assume FNB is gearing up to compete with other banks offering insurance, Bromfield says that’s not where the true battle lies. “Our competitors are the likes of Discovery, Momentum, Metropolitan, and Sanlam,” he explained.
“Our job is to make sure our franchise can compete with those businesses on its own merit.”
This shift marks a major strategic evolution for FNB: from using insurance as an internal cross-selling tool, to positioning it as a standalone challenger in South Africa’s fiercely competitive insurance market.
South Africa is witnessing a resurgence in bancassurance — banks launching insurers, and insurers launching banks. The most high-profile example is Discovery Bank, which took seven years and R14.5 billion to reach profitability. Despite the massive investment, Discovery says the bank is now a crucial tool for customer engagement and cross-selling of insurance products — something FNB knows all too well.
FNB is using similar channels:
✔ The FNB App
✔ Private bankers
✔ Wealth managers
✔ A vast network of financial advisors and branches
This creates a powerful funnel for insurance distribution — one few standalone insurers can match.
By embedding insurance directly into the everyday banking experience, FNB boosts visibility, engagement, and accessibility. Clients interact with their banking app several times a month — far more often than they would with an insurance platform.
This gives FNB a strategic edge that traditional insurers simply don’t have. For Bromfield, the long-term victory won’t only come from scale — but from simplicity. “Products must be simple, understandable, and easy to access,” he said.
If FNB can maintain that clarity while going after the big players, it could reshape the balance of power in one of South Africa’s most competitive industries.
