COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF BANCASSURANCE DISTRIBUTION MODELS: IMPLICATIONS FOR UZBEKISTAN'S EMERGING INSURANCE MARKET

Abstract

This thesis classifies the principal organizational models of bancassurance identified in the international literature pure distribution agreements, strategic alliances/joint ventures, financial conglomerates, and embedded credit-linked models and evaluates their applicability to Uzbekistan's rapidly expanding but still underpenetrated insurance market. Between 2020 and 2023, Uzbekistan's aggregate insurance premiums grew from 1,879,346 to 7,737,236 million UZS a cumulative increase of more than 300%, while the number of licensed insurers rose to 43. Against this backdrop of general market growth, the bancassurance channel itself remains at an early stage an estimated 18% of distribution in 2025. The thesis argues that, given the structure of Uzbekistan's banking sector and its stage of digital transformation, an embedded credit-linked model following the pattern observed in India and Nepal offers the most immediately scalable path for expanding bancassurance, while strategic alliances represent a viable medium-term option as regulatory and capital-market conditions mature.