Equitable Bank announced March 22 that it has entered a new arrangement with Equitable Life of Canada. This arrangement enables qualifying Equitable Life policy owners to access funds through the bank's insurance lending solutions, which include CSV Lines of Credit as well as the recently launched Immediate Financing Arrangement (IFA) offering.
Equitable Life – which despite the similar name is not affiliated with Equitable Bank – is the latest to be included among the bank’s approved carriers for its life insurance lending program. On the bank’s website, the other approved carriers listed are: Foresters Financial, Desjardins Insurance, Manulife, Sun Life, Canada Life, BMO Insurance, Empire Life and iA Financial Group.
"Adding Equitable Life to our Insurance Lending Program strengthens our program overall and positions our team to expand our reach across Canada via Advisors and Financial Planners," stated Mahima Poddar, Senior Vice President and Group Head of Personal Banking at Equitable Bank. "Over the past year, we've steadily added major insurers to our list of partners, helping us reshape the options that Canadians have when it comes to accessing liquidity via whole life insurance policies. With the addition of the trusted Equitable Life brand to our partner insurer roster, we're making it even easier for many Canadians to include insurance lending in their financial planning toolkits."
"We are excited to partner with Equitable Bank to offer more lending choices for our clients. Clients can use the cash surrender value of their participating whole life insurance policy as collateral for a tax-free bank loan," stated Donna Carbell, Senior Vice President Individual at Equitable Life. "This agreement allows qualifying Equitable Life participating whole life policyholders to access a collateral loan with Equitable Bank if they choose."
To learn more about Equitable Bank’s whole life lending program, read the C-Suite interview featured in the September 2021 edition of the Insurance Journal.