Banks in India sell a great deal of life insurance, but how much of it do customers really understand? This paper tries to answer that for one group of customers in Pune. Over June and July 2026 I surveyed 150 people who were approached through the field marketing of a Bank of Baroda–IndiaFirst Life distribution associate. The questions covered what they knew about bancassurance, how it compares with other places to put savings, why they bought, and how they felt afterwards. Three products were the focus: the Long Guaranteed Income Plan, the Guarantee of Life Dreams Plan and the Mahajeevan Plus Plan. The answers were analyzed with simple percentages and cross-tabulations.

Fewer than half the respondents (45.3%) said they fully understood what bancassurance is, and knowledge of the three products ran from 38% to 54%. Most people had first heard about it from bank staff (45.3%), and trust in the bank was the reason given most often for buying (80.7%). Of the 97 respondents who had bought a policy, 55.7% were satisfied or highly satisfied, 32.0% felt neutral and 12.4% were unhappy. People who were fully aware of bancassurance bought far more often than those who were not (77.9% against 37.9%). Because the sample was one of convenience, the findings describe the people reached and should not be stretched to the whole market. The paper ends with a few practical suggestions on explaining products clearly, choosing whom to approach and keeping in touch after a sale.

Keywords: bancassurance, customer awareness, customer satisfaction, life insurance, Bank of Baroda, IndiaFirst Life, retail investment