Save for old age with cashback – Sophie Röhlk from Bayerische in an interview with Mehrwerk
Nowadays, anyone who wants to maintain their standard of living in old age cannot rely on the statutory pension alone. Private pension provision is increasingly coming to the fore and is leading to competition for the favor of policyholders in the insurance market. But how can you successfully set yourself apart from the competition?
Bayerische asked itself this question back in 2014 and found a partner with an innovative solution in Mehrwerk – the result is called plusrente. We spoke to Sophie Röhlk, Product Marketing Manager at Bayerische, about the concept and the collaboration.
Hello, Sophie! Bayerische and Mehrwerk have been working together for a long time – what makes our partnership so special?
I think that Mehrwerk and Bayerische are two innovative companies from the SME sector that are in tune with the times and want to get things moving. Our experience in the insurance industry and your expertise in the cashback sector form a good synergy, which gave rise to plusrente in 2014.
Can you briefly explain to readers what plusrente is?
First of all, plusrente is a classic unit-linked pension insurance as we know it. What makes it special is that it is linked to a cashback system. Our customers pay their monthly premium into plusrente every month and can shop in over 1,200 online stores on our website(plusrente.de) and collect cashback – this is paid directly into the funds. This allows them to increase their pension at no extra cost and have more in their wallet at the end of the day. This combination is – as of now – unique on the market and sets us apart from the competition.
What is the feedback from your customers?
Even in times of coronavirus, plusrente has been able to hold its own and continue to grow. The feedback is consistently positive anyway, because many of our customers are surprised that it is so easy to top up their pension. At the same time, we have many touchpoints with our customers. Be it via a service hotline or in writing: This gives us the opportunity to obtain regular feedback and support customers in their retirement planning. It is often the case that you take out pension insurance once and then hear something from your insurer every five years. With plusrente.de, we have created a platform that allows our customers to interact with us and engage with the product – that is something special that our customers really appreciate.
Is this type of retirement provision the model of the future – especially when it comes to reaching a younger target group that has so far paid little attention to the subject?
Definitely! I believe that traditional pension provision has long since had its day. Especially as there are so many providers on the market and the customer hardly has a chance to distinguish between them. That’s why we at Bayerische have set ourselves the goal of rethinking old-age provision. But we also want to enrich other insurance products with value-added services in the future. With PrimeHome, we already have a successful household insurance product on the market.
What role does Mehrwerk play in this context?
Independently of the ongoing product optimization, Mehrwerk manages the entire plusrente.de portal: you provide the platform, take care of communication with the stores and handling all aspects of cashback and are the point of contact for questions or problems with first-level support. In addition, your travel agency is connected to plusrente, with which our customers receive 5% travel rebates when they travel. Mehrwerk offers the all-round carefree package with a personal and frequent exchange at eye level. This enables us to achieve a great deal and constantly develop our products further.
Rethinking retirement provision – creating a competitive advantage for your own company
Are you, like Bayerische, interested in offering your customers added value in the form of cashback?
Did you know that cashback can be used in a variety of ways and that your customers can donate it to a good cause or support a local association, for example? Not yet?
Then please contact me and I will tell you more about it!