Online nomination of insurance beneficiaries available soon: MAS

Singapore has amended insurance regulations to allow online nomination of beneficiaries.

Insurance policy owners in Singapore will soon have online options to nominate their beneficiaries, following amendments to insurance regulations, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

Amendments have been made to the Insurance (Nomination of Beneficiaries) Regulations 2009, with the online option available from 2 January 2024

Currently, the process for nomination beneficiaries involves hardcopy submissions with in-person witnessing. 

Two approaches will be made available: first is through online witnessing, wherein the witnessing of the policy owner’s signing of the online form can be carried out using an audio-visual link instead of in-person. 

The second is through online attestation. Instead of witnessing the signing of the form online, an attestor will make an online declaration on the policy owner’s circumstances. 

Given the importance of the authenticity and integrity of records on insurance beneficiary nominations, secure electronic signatures must be used for online submissions, MAS said.

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Both the online witness and online attestor will also have to declare that the policy owner is not under any undue pressure and understands the purpose and effect of making the nomination.

Prudential Assurance Company Singapore CEO Dennis Tan– who also serves as president of the Life Insurance Association, Singapore– said that LIA Singapore welcomes the amendment.

“Nomination of beneficiaries is important to ensure the payable benefits are paid out to the intended persons according to the wishes of our customers. We welcome this enhancement by MAS to provide customers with greater flexibility and convenience to nominate beneficiaries and will work with our members to roll out progressively,” Tan said.