Comparison platform Comparis is considered an insurance intermediary
Published: Friday, Jul 12th 2024, 12:10
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The online comparison platform Comparis is to be classified as an insurance intermediary due to the services it offers. This was decided by the Federal Administrative Court. The platform must therefore be entered in the register of independent insurance intermediaries.
On the Comparis website, users can not only compare different insurance solutions. By clicking further, they also have the option of ordering a quote directly from an insurance company.
Since July 1, 2023, offers have been formally ordered via the Comparis sister company Optimatis. The button for ordering is now located on a visually separate area of Optimatis, but still on the Comparis website, as the Federal Administrative Court stated in a decision published on Friday.
According to the court, the activities of the sister companies are economically interdependent. Optimatis could only offer Internet users the opportunity to obtain insurance quotes if their interest had previously been aroused by the Comparis comparison portal.
In addition, the insurance companies' commissions would only be due if users ordered the offers from the insurance companies via the Optimatis link.
Important source of revenue
For the Comparis Group, these commissions represent a significant part of the profit from its business activities. The Federal Administrative Court therefore concludes that the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) was right to classify Comparis as an insurance intermediary in September 2023.
Because Comparis does not openly admit to any ties to specific insurance companies, it is considered to be a so-called independent insurance intermediary. The company must therefore comply with Finma's order and submit an application for entry in the register of independent insurance intermediaries.
Comparis accepts the ruling and will not appeal to the Federal Supreme Court, as the company announced in a statement. However, Comparis did express criticism of the ruling in the press release.
"US giants like Google are not regulated by Finma. This means they will be able to react quickly to customer needs in the future," said Chairman of the Board of Directors Richard Eisler. In contrast, Swiss companies such as Comparis could be disadvantaged by the "regulatory bureaucracy". (Judgement B-5886/2023 of 5.7.2024)
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