Mumbai: IndiaFirst Life Insurance today said it has partnered with five Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) in order to sell its products to customers in the hinterland. The city-headquartered insurer has tied up with Bank of Baroda -sponsored RRBs: Baroda Uttar Pradesh Gramin Bank, Baroda Rajasthan Gramin Bank and Baroda Gujarat Gramin Bank, besides Nainital-Almora Kshetriya Gramin Bank and Jhabua-Dhar Kshetriya Gramin Bank, a statement issued here said. The company's initial plan is to tie up with the RRBs of its partner bank and later expand to RRBs of other nationalised banks and cooperative banks, it said. The five RRBs have 1,000 branch offices across 40 districts. Some of them have had experience in distributing life insurance products thereby providing a ready platform to IndiaFirst Life for launching and rapidly scaling up operations, it added. "This new tie-up will help us serve our customers in rural areas in a better and effective way. There is an urgent need in the country to not only taking financial services to the rural populace but also to make them financially literate for true development to take place," IndiaFirst Life Insurance Managing Director and CEO, P Nandagopal, said. The insurance company is a joint venture between Bank of Baroda, Andhra Bank and UK's leading risk, wealth and investment company Legal and General. Bank of Baroda holds a 44% stake in the firm, while Andhra Bank and Legal and General 30% and 26% respectively.