Microinsurance aims to protect the assets of low-income individuals and families from natural disasters, illness, death, accidents, crop failure. With the advent of mobile money, microinsurers are being forced to develop new and affordable products.
The platform can be used to reduce delivery costs, for example, mobile money can let customers enrol and make premium payments remotely, saving both time and money. It also lets operators and practitioners respond to growth, competition and regulation.
In this section you’ll find articles, blog posts and other useful resources for researching this topic.
1. WHAT IS MICROINSURANCE?
Protecting the poor: A microinsurance compendium
Author : Craig Churchill, International Labour Organization
Essential reading for insurance professionals, practitioners and anyone involved with offering insurance to low-income people. This volume discusses microinsurance in detail, covering product design, marketing, premium collection and governance.
2. HOW CAN MICROINSURANCE PRODUCTS RIDE ON THE RAILS OF THE MOBILE MONEY PLATFORM?
Kilimo Salama
Author : Syngenta Foundation
Kilimo Salama (“Safe Agriculture”) is an insurance for Kenyan farmers so they can insure their farm against drought or excess rain. The project is a partnership between Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, UAP Insurance, and Safaricom.
Hand held Doctors and Mobile Premium Payments: How Technology can Improve Insurance for the Poor
Author : International Labour Organization
The ILO’s Microinsurance Innovation Facility looks at how microinsurance providers are using technology to overcome the industry’s challenges.
Emerging Practices in Mobile Microinsurance
Author : MMU
The mobile platform, including mobile money, can be used as a tool to reduce the costs of microinsurance and to help it to scale.
3. OTHER RESOURCES
Technology for Microinsurance Scoping Study
Author : Eric Gerelle and Michiel Berende, International Labour Organization
CGAP Working Group on Microinsurance (WGMI) and the Microinsurance Innovation Facility compiled an inventory of information technologies that are applicable in offering insurance services to low-income households.
Related BLOG POSTS
- Mobile Money for the Unbanked
Microinsurance to reward mobile money wallet activity: Examples from Pakistan and Tanzania
Both for commercial reasons and also to achieve greater financial inclusion, mobile money providers would like to see subscribers maintain balances in their mobile wallets. Storing funds electronically rather than immediately withdrawing the full amount in cas... - Mobile Money for the Unbanked
Tigo, Bima, and MicroEnsure bring a “Freemium” model to mobile insurance
Insurance is a complicated product but one where mobile distribution methods hold some promise. MMU’s latest paper on mobile microinsurance tries to lay out some of the options and complexities. The obvious question becomes: What works and what doesn’t? ... - Mobile Money for the Unbanked
A new MMU publication on emerging practices in Mobile Microinsurance
One of the most important reasons that people use financial services is to manage risk. Insurance, in particular, is a useful way for households to protect themselves from negative financial shocks and other adverse events. Unfortunately, although a range of i... - Mobile Money for the Unbanked
BPI Globe Banko launches m-insurance products
Poor people in developing countries live and work in risky environments, vulnerable to illness, accidental death and disability, loss of property due to theft or fire, agricultural losses, and natural and man-made disasters. As a result, the mobile financial... - Mobile Money for the Unbanked
The Advent of Mobile Financial Services in Agriculture
As the global population continues to grow – it is expected to reach more than 9 billion by 2050. It will require a 70% increase in food production above current levels. Most of this increased yield will have to be achieved in less developed countries (LDC... - Mobile Money for the Unbanked
Delivering Hope with Mobile Money in Tanzania
Mobile phones have been pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in developing countries for quite some time. From remote villages, farmers can access real time crop prices and new mothers can receive neonatal advice over SMS. Since 2009, Vodacom M-PESA and... - Mobile Money for the Unbanked
FrontlineSMS:Credit: Targeting MFIs and SMEs to maximise the social impact of mobile money
We’ve written previously in our blog about the intersection of mobile money and Microfinance and about innovative microfinance products riding on the rails of mobile money. Last week, Nathan Wyeth, Project Director of FrontlineSMS:Credit, visited our offic... - Mobile Money for the Unbanked
Risk-sharing effects of Mobile Money
Informal networks in developing countries provide an important means by which individuals and households share risk. However, this coverage is not always 100% comprehensive. Economists find that one of the reasons why this happens is transaction costs. Literal... - Mobile Money for the Unbanked
ZONG launches Pakistan’s first Accidental m-Insurance
In the past, we have discussed the potential of new delivery channels to help bring insurance products to the BOP. MNOs have large physical and virtual networks with the potential to reach significant numbers of clients at low cost. On the contrary, insuranc... - Mobile Money for the Unbanked
Interview with Esther Duflo, co-author of “Poor Economics” Part 2.
In light of the recent publication of “Poor Economics”, the new book by Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo, MMU caught up with Dr. Duflo to discuss some relevant themes to help our readers understand the broader impact of mobile financial services in the... - Mobile Money for the Unbanked
Interview with Dr. Esther Duflo, co-author of “Poor Economics”
In light of the recent publication of “Poor Economics”, the new book by Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo, MMU caught up with Dr. Duflo to discuss some relevant themes to help our readers understand the broader impact of mobile financial services in the... - Mobile Money for the Unbanked
mi-Life, Mobile Microinsurance in Ghana
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 al... - Mobile Money for the Unbanked
Innovation in Health Microinsurance and Savings
Juliet Agutu, a domestic worker in Nairobi recently delivered her first child at Pumwani, the country’s largest maternal hospital. Like many mothers-to-be in the developing world, Juliet was worried about not having the appropriate medical facilities or th... - Mobile Money for the Unbanked
Will Mobile Money Bring Microinsurance to the Poor?
Matu Onyango is a farmer in the region of Nanyuki, 250 km north of Nairobi. His family’s welfare depends solely on the income derived from maize crops. During the last drought that afflicted the region, not only did his crop suffer, but one of his four chi...
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