Private insurer Bharti AXA Life Insurance on Friday launched its first online term insurance product, Bharti AXA Life iProtect.

"Recent studies show that the internet penetration in India has doubled in the last five years and is expected to triple by 2015 to over 250 million users. E-commerce in financial services has grown over 30 per cent year-on-year for the last 3 years, insurance being a significant part of it," Bharti AXA Life CEO Sandeep Ghosh said in a release here.

Online is going to form an important part of Bharti AXA Life's distribution strategy, the release said, adding that consumer preference has played a pivotal role in the company's foray into this new channel.

"Online as a distribution channel requires a fundamentally different perspective of looking at insurance sales. Various studies indicate that affordability, convenience and access are the prime motivators for consumers to buy online insurance," Ghosh said.

"Bharti AXA Life iProtect is one of the most competitive term plans in the market today. The functionality we have built as part of the user interface will help the customer purchase the policy in a few simple steps," he added.

"iProtect is an online term plan and we understand that the moment of truth for this category is claim settlement. In times of distress, the family of the deceased may require immediate money to meet unforeseen expenses. Our unique and industry-first service guarantee -- Family Care benefit -- ensures a release of Rs 100,000 within 48 hours of claim intimation," he said.

Bharti AXA Life is the private life insurance joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and the world's largest insurance company AXA.