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Banks sell insurance
Despite opposition from independent insurance agents, some of Virginia’s statewide banks are making spirited forays into the highly competitive insurance business.
The Bank of Virginia Insurance Agency, a unit of the Bank of Virginia, began selling auto, and homeowners coverage in late 1984 and says it will be offering life insurance to Bank of Virginia customers by mid-October and commercial insurance by the end of the year.
A subsidiary of United Virginia Bankshares Inc., the United Virginia Insurance Agency, said it would begin selling auto and homeowners insurance to its customers in early October and would test the sale of life insurance next year.
And three other banking organizations in Virginia — Sovran Financial Corp; First Virginia Banks Inc., parent of First Virginia Bank of Tidewater, and Central Fidelity Banks — said they are studying ways that might allow them to sell insurance to their customers.
Although Central Fidelity has not yet decided how it would deliver insurance products, “we will be in the business sooner or later,” said James W. Koeniger, senior vice president and head of the bank’s statewide financial services group.
First Virginia Banks, which has an insurance agency subsidiary, said it recently surveyed its banking
87.5%