MAS Digital Acceleration Grant and Surer – subscribe by 30 June to be eligible for application of grant!

Updated on 28 June 2021… Surer is now on the General Solutions list for the MAS Digital Acceleration Grant for insurance intermediaries!   What is the grant about? Essentially, an MAS initiative to have insurance intermediaries accelerate their digital transformation by providing 80% co-funding for qualifying expenses incurred from 1 April 2021. Applications must be submitted by 31 December 2021 What this means is: Surer is now officially ‘recognised’ to be a solution that contributes to improvements in productivity, efficiency, risk management, operational resilience, or customer service for insurance intermediaries Surer subscription fees for usage of Surer is now qualified for DAG co-funding* Timelines / Deadlines: The co-funding duration is a minimum of 6 months  The solution must be in use between 1 April 2021 and 31 December 2021 for at least 6 consecutive months in Singapore before time of application IMPORTANT: If you have not already subscribed – do so before 30 June 2021 to be eligible!   Who is Eligible? General Insurance Agencies with not more than 200 appointed representatives/ agents and employees Life Insurance Agencies of Licensed Financial Advisers or Licensed Life Insurers with not more than 200 appointed representatives/ agents and employees *Eligibility and qualifying criteria applies – read on to find out more

 

While the MAS Digital Acceleration Grant – General Insurance and Life Insurance Agencies of Licensed Financial Advisers or Licensed Life Insurers was first announced on 30 April, we also understand from our users that there are still a number of questions about it.

Here’s a quick timeline of updates Surer has made on this topic since:

• 28 May 2021: Shared at our Webinar, our understanding of how Insurance Intermediaries can leverage this grant and how to do so specifically for Surer as a solution that is not yet listed on MAS’ general solutions list
• 4 June 2021, 2359hr: Updated the the window for IPA (in-principle-approval) submission is closed
• 28 June 2021: Surer is now on the General Solutions list for the MAS Digital Acceleration Grant for insurance intermediaries!

What is the difference, if Surer is on the General Solutions list or not?

 

Here is a breakdown of the difference and how it relates to you as a Surer subscriber:

	On the General Solutions list	Not on General Solutions list
Need to submit IPA	No	Yes
Need to wait for approval of IPA	No	Yes
Need to submit a Non-General Solutions application form after using Surer for a minimum of 6 consecutive months by 31 December 2021	No	Yes
Need to submit the General Solutions application form after using Surer for a minimum of 6 consecutive months by 31 December 2021	Yes	No

Now that Surer is on the General Solutions list, the application process is a lot simpler!

It also means that Surer has been reviewed by MAS and is now officially ‘recognised’ to be a solution that contributes to improvements in productivity, efficiency, risk management, operational resilience, or customer service for insurance intermediaries!

Note: being on the General Solutions list does not equate to guaranteed co-funding from the grant – there are eligibility criteria to be met as well. Read on to have a full view of such or check out the MAS website for this.

Subscribe to Surer by 30 June 2021 to be eligible for application of the grant!

 

Given that Surer is now on the General Solutions list, eligible intermediaries now just need to ensure they have a paid Surer account by 30 June 2021.

Thereafter, submit a General Solutions application form to DAG_GI@mas.gov.sg at the end of the funding period i.e. latest by 31 December 2021.

This may sound daunting, but it is really is not that difficult! Regardless, we have dedicated team members waiting to assist you on it.

To get assistance from our dedicated concierge team, simply drop us a text via whatsapp now or fill out this form and we will get in touch with you asap!

 

Below is a recap of  information that was shared on 28 May 2021 on the MAS Digital Acceleration Grant – read on or check out MAS website, to get a good understanding of how this grant can help supercharge your digital transformation journey!

Key eligibility criteria

 

First thing’s first, here are a couple of key eligibility criteria to keep in mind.

• Life Insurance and General Insurance agencies with not more than 200 appointed representatives/ agents and employees
• GI agencies must be registered with ACRA for at least 6 months prior to application date, and be registered with the Agents’ Registration Board (ARB) | Life Insurance agencies must submit their DAG applications through the main insurer (“sponsoring FI”)
• Solution must be in use for 6 consecutive months 
• Application submission for grant done by 31 Dec 2021 – in-principle approval (IPA) proposal submission by 4 Jun 2021

Flow chart on application process 

 

To help you better understand the application process, here’s a simple flow chart diagram: 

Key deadlines 

 

What is more important is that time is running tight if you are an eligible intermediary looking to leverage this grant to accelerate digital transformation.

Below is an overview of such:

In terms of deadlines, the important things to note are as follow:

• the solution must be in use between 1 April 2021 and 31 December 2021 for at least 6 consecutive months in Singapore before time of application
• Time of application = earliest at 1 October 2021 and latest by 31 December 2021.
• As such, for any solutions you choose to leverage and intend to make a grant application for, it is important to note that 30 June 2021 is the last day that you can subscribe to such solutions and fit the eligibility criteria of using the solution for 6 consecutive months by 31 December 2021!

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This is a great initiative from MAS to help insurance intermediaries supercharge their digital transformation journey – we sincerely encourage all eligible intermediaries, regardless if it is for the purpose of using Surer or not, to check this out and leverage it!