Life insurance isnt an impulse buyits not like picking up a pack of chewing gum at the checkout counter. And, just like with many products, salesmen know the quicker you can close the deal, the less likelihood there is the customer will decide he doesnt want (or need) the product.

Having that quick-strike capability has always been a problem for life insurers. What if your client is young, apparently healthy, and wants to make sure there will be enough money available to pay the family bills should tragedy strike? North American Company for Life and Health Insurance (NACOLAH), which conducts a segment of its business through financial institutions, felt these policies could be issued at the point of sale if the right questions were asked and the answers didnt set off any alarms.

Gary Gaspar, CIO at NACOLAH, and Bill Moore, vice president of risk analysis, felt there were opportunities available for banks offering NACOLAH productsopportunities that werent being used effectively. The carrier wasnt having problems, Moore said, We were just looking for expansion and other business opportunities. Banks seemed like a natural extension of this market, particularly if homebuyers and other good banking customers could get the products they needed quickly.