Mobile in Kenya

MicroEnsure's Fearless Health in Kenya demonstrates bundling's potential. Over 50 million people in 15 countries use MicroEnsure. Through relationships with mobile network carriers, the firm offers many consumers free life, accident, and hospital insurance through cell phone. These models only address catastrophic demands, not customers' day-to-day risks. Fearless Health blends insurance with other goods to assist clients’ access inpatient and outpatient care without postponing treatment due to expense.

 

mobile application in kenya

The Fearless Health pilot launched in 2016 with three key features: on-demand loans for primary healthcare at outpatient clinics, medical advice by phone (customers text their health questions by SMS and receive a call from a doctor), and insurance for inpatient care that pays out if a customer or family member needs three or more nights in a hospital. MicroEnsure kept prices low by limiting insurance to inpatient treatment and offered loans for outpatient requirements. Administrative expenditures connected to outpatient claims push increase premiums. MicroEnsure bundled financial goods to provide insurance without separate premium payments.

 

MicroEnsure used loans to expose clients to Fearless Health's other offerings. It advertised loans to clinics to help people pay for treatments. During loan repayment, debtors were insured and had health information via phone. Fearless Health used mobile money for all consumer payments. MicroEnsure didn't like cash due to the possibility of numerous payouts per customer and monthly loan repayments. Customers needed fast digital loans and hospital cash payments to cover emergency bills.

 

"Treatment now, pay later" says a banner. MicroEnsure promoted Fearless Health nationwide. Michel Hanouch photographed.

 

Fearless Health's pilot showed that clients without adequate money for outpatient treatment like the product. Fearless Health consumers spend more at clinics than noncustomers, making a commercial justification for clinics to embrace the product and minimizing under treatment owing to patient financial restrictions. MicroEnsure's strategy to give credit to patients at clinics when they needed it most should be rethought. Most clinic patients had adequate funds for outpatient charges. Fearless Health's target market couldn't afford clinics. The pilot proposed MicroEnsure market outside clinics.

 

As Kenya's insurers react to increased competition by finding new premium avenues, technology is becoming more crucial. The Association of Kenya Insurers (AKI) said in 2016 that digitization is lowering consumer friction points and insurers are investing in digital platforms.

 

More than 12m smartphones are in circulation in Kenya, and mobile phone and internet penetration rates are 88% and 90%, respectively. 6m Kenyans use Facebook, 10m WhatsApp, and 3m Instagram.

 

Some insurers are eager to capitalize on Kenya's smartphone use to bring novel tech-based solutions to market. UAP Insurance's Kilimo Salama (Safe Farmers) protection for Kenyan agriculture leverages mobile technologies. Independent merchants of agricultural supplies utilize smartphone scanners to create rapid, paperless registrations. Distributors collect premiums and send them to the insurance firm using M-Pesa, a mobile money-transfer service that has 22.62m customers in June 2017, up 32% from 17.12m in 2016. Automated weather sensors monitor rainfall; if a payment is due, farmers get it through M-Pesa.

 

Kenya Orient was a pioneer in Kenya's insurance market. ORIENT MOBILE premiered in 2013 to much enthusiasm. This was the first insurance plan that insured phones against damage, theft, and loss as a separate policy. Anyone may insure a gadget for up to 2 years after purchase. Sending 'MOBILE' to 70707 activates the insurance. The insurance system sends you a link to the Kenya Orient system, which assesses your phone's manufacturer, model, and market worth. You're handed the device's yearly premium.

 

Maryam Saeed Dogar

 

For more article, kindly read blogs by visiting at https://ihf12.blogspot.com

For more videos, kindly visit our two YouTube channels:

https://www.youtube.com/@imspakistan7268

https://www.youtube.com/@islamicfinance2538