THE INSURER Prvá Česko-Slovenská Poisťovňa Rapid changed its trade name to Rapid Life Životná Poisťovňa at the beginning of the year. Spokesman for the insurer Marek Hitka told the SITA news agency that the insurer's mission and Slovakia’s entry to the European Union supported its strategy of diversification into the insurance markets of more countries and thus the internationalisation of the brand was inevitable.
In 2006, the international name Rapid was added to the original brand Prvá Česko-Slovenská Poisťovňa, being one of the basic prerequisites for the access to central European markets.
The insurer can also carry out business in the Czech Republic and Poland. According to Hitka, this led to accelerated efforts to rebrand the insurer so that the brand formally reflected the insurance market of each given country. January 1, 2009 was the most financially suitable date for such a changeover as the rebranding took place along with the transition to the euro, meaning that both changes in software and forms were carried out at the same time.
Rapid Life projects 2008 pre-tax profits of roughly €3 million. Written premiums are expected to exceed €19 million. The insurance company has approximately 150,000 insurance contracts.
The insurance company was enrolled in the Slovak corporate register in June 1994.