BenLife, Smart launch insurance through text

• THE DAILY TRIBUNE

• Written by  Charlie V. Manalo 
• Thursday, 26 July 2012 00:00

Filipino insurer Beneficial Life Insurance (BenLife) and telecommunication giant Smart Communication yesterday launched a new mobile micro-insurance service aimed at providing ordinary Filipinos with accident and death insurance for as low as P 3 per month.

At a press briefing held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Makati City, executives of BenLife and Smart inaugurated InsureTxt which offers accidental death coverage of up to P50,000 for as low as P3 per month.

The service includes coverage for death caused by natural calamities and is available to all Smart and Talk N’ Text subscribers. All InsureTxt transactions, from registration to payment and renewal, are all done through text messaging.

The insurance program allows a minimum insurance coverage of P10,000 for P3 and a maximum policy of P50,000 for P9. Smart and Talk N’ Text subscribers however can avail of multiple insurance policies by through multiple registration using different sim cards.

“Mobile micro-insurance, as exemplified by InsureTXT, is simply a great idea whose time has finally come,” said Insurance Commission (IC) Commissioner Emmanuel Dooc. “It must be done because Filipinos need this kind of service, and because we can now offer it — thanks to the help of private sector partners like BenLife and Smart.”

Introduced on the occasion of the ongoing 6th Asia Microinsurance Conference, InsureTxt was presented by BenLife and Smart officials to Department of Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and Dooc. According to BenLife, InsureTxt is their response to the challenge of the IC to increase insurance coverage among Filipinos, particularly those living below the poverty line.

“Mobile phones represent the easiest, most cost-efficient way to offer insurance to Filipinos. Through our partnership with Smart, we now are able to reach out to the over 50 million Filipinos on their network,” said Enrique Fernadez, chairma of BenLife.

Purisima lauded the insurance company for embracing technology and innovation to offer insurance to Filipinos who could least afford it and at the same time cited that the country ranks way below other Asean countries in terms of mass based insurance.

According to Purisima, the new facility of BenLife is a much needed advancement in the insurance field and will certainly be a welcome development, especially for the lower classes of Philippine society.

Dooc said he views the launch of the mobile micro-insurance service of BenLife as very timely.

“With the onset of the typhoon season, everybody can potentially be a victim of tragedies such as floods, landslides, road accidents, etc.,” he said.

This is clearly evident as the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) last Saturday, July 21, reported recorded the highest incidents of road accidents in Edsa alone.

BenLife also revealed that by the end of the year it would have already complied with the IC’s mandate for insurance companies to increase capitalization to P1 billion by 2020 — eight years ahead of schedule.

According to Fernandez, BenLife’s early compliance underscores the company’s commitment to the industry, to the efforts of government and to the Filipino people.

Last modified on Wednesday, 25 July 2012 21:04