Theoretically, it makes perfect sense. Banks have the branches—all 88,562 of them—across the length and breadth of India. Insurance companies find distribution tough through individual agents. Bank customers largely trust their banks in India. Put all three in a box and shake, and you have the bancassurance model, where insurance companies tie up with banks so that banks can cross-sell insurance policies to their existing customers—that is, you and me. So why’s there a bad smell around bancassurance and why has it taken a nudge from the ministry of finance to push the banks to become brokers?