MTN Ghana, Hollard Insurance
, MicroEnsure, and MFS Africa have launched today an innovative mobile money insurance product called “mi-Life”
We have written previously how insurance designed to serve low-income clients is an effective tool in poverty alleviation, as it gives poor people access to adequate risk-management tools and reduces their vulnerability to falling back into poverty. Mobile money services provide significant benefits to the insurance industry, the MNO, and the customer, through:
- Lowering costs of collecting the premium and disbursing the claim.
- Providing a massive and efficient distribution platform.
- Improved communications with the customer (e.g. using SMS reminders, interactive menus etc.)
- Empowering customers to manage their insurance policies in a cost effective and accessible manner.
As such, “mi-Life” is now available through MTN’s Mobile Money platform in Ghana and provides users with the opportunity to buy life insurance via their mobile phones. Users will also be able to initiate claims, queries and make premium payments using their handsets. Premium payments are deducted from the m-wallet monthly and customers receive an SMS notifying them the premium has been deducted and their insurance cover renewed. Once the premium is paid, the insurance cover lasts one month, until the next monthly premium is deducted.
Jeremy Leach, Head of Microinsurance for the Hollard Insurance Group considers that in emerging markets, life insurance through mobile money is the next transformational step in the growth of mobile financial services. “The launch of mi-Life is a sign that global insurers are beginning to recognise the potential of the mobile channel as a mechanism to expand their markets,” said Dare Okoudjou, Chief Executive, MFS Africa.
For the insurance industry, this is a stepping stone in the quest for alternative delivery methods. Sophisticated products like “mi-Life”, which ride on the rails of a mobile money platform are also proof how mobile money can dramatically improve the lives of millions of financial consumers in lower income markets in a responsible and sustainable way.