BUSINESS BRIEFS

Sagicor Jamaica launches life insurance sales platform

Sagicor Life Jamaica has launched a new online platform, called eLife, which allows Jamaicans to purchase insurance from home or office.

The service, which Sagicor says is the first such insurance sales platform regionally, promises review of applications within 24 hours and 24/7 online technical assistance.

The insurance company said that eLife, launched on May 8, will allow payment online for coupon life insurance, critical illness and investment-type policies. Applicants will not be required to do a medical, Sagicor said.

Mark Chisholm, executive vice-president, Individual Life Division, Sagicor Life, said in a company release that eLife will change the face of life insurance, “which has not traditionally been accommodating of technological and digital advancement”.

The site comes with instructional videos on how to use the platform. The company also said the platform was developed by an internal IT team.

Airline group predicts another record for summer travel

The airline industry’s trade group in the United States is predicting another record for summer travel.

Airlines for America forecast on Tuesday that 257.4 million people will fly on US carriers between June 1 and August 31.

That’s a 3.4 per cent increase over last summer, and it works out to about 2.8 million travellers a day.

The trade group says airlines are adding 111,000 seats per day, more than the predicted 93,000 increase in daily passengers.

According to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the average inflation-adjusted price for a domestic ticket has dropped for four straight years to the lowest level since the agency began tracking the fare prices in 1995. But those numbers don’t include all the extra fees that airlines now charge.