Vodacom Tanzania has partnered with Britam, an East African insurance group, to launch ‘VodaBima’ – a micro-insurance platform accessible on Vodacom’s M-PESA menu in Tanzania.
VodaBima gives customers the option of saving up for Insurance at no cost in their VodaBima wallet throughout the year. VodaBima platform will send out push notifications and SMS alerts when your vehicle Insurance is about to expire. The product will bring insurance services closer to customers increasing convenience and accessibility and boost the insurance industry in the country as a whole.
According to Finscope report 2013, Insurance uptake in Tanzania is at 13.0% having doubled from 6.8% in 2009. Despite the double digit growth, Insurance is still one of least utilized financial services in Tanzania. Different reasons are cited for the low numbers including a low awareness, mistrust of the service and bottlenecks to access the services. As a technology company with a vision to digitize Tanzania and change lives through technology, Vodacom is keen to bridge this gap by offering a digital solution that will ease access to Insurance products.
Speaking in Dar es Salaam today, M-Pesa Director, Epimack Mbeteni said that VodaBima is a new addition to M-Pesa portfolio of products and services all aimed at making digital inclusion in Tanzania a reality.
“For 13 years now, Vodacom M-Pesa has been a key catalyst in growth of financial inclusion in the country and we are always looking into new ways of pushing for an inclusive digital economy. Vodacom aims to bridge the gap of access to insurance services by offering a digital solution that will cut down costs and increase access to Insurance products.
‘VODABIMA is a first in the market and offers the assurance of easy access to insurance services and simplicity of access to claims. We currently offer motor-insurance but plan to bring in more risk covers as the product keeps evolves.’
Zacharia Muyengi, who is the Director of Marketing and Research at Tanzania Insurance Regulatory Authority – TIRA said that increased access to insurance services through mobile phones will benefit more customers as they will now be more aware of insurance services on offer in the market.
‘We work towards developing, promoting and maintaining an inclusive, efficient, fair, safe and stable insurance market for the benefit and protection of policy holders. We welcome use of mobile technology and innovation to bring these services closer to the people. Launch of VodaBima is step towards creating a more efficient and transparent service through digitization of insurance services in the country.’
On his part, Britam Insurance Company Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Raymond Komanga, who are partnering with Vodacom to roll out digital motor insurance service said that use of telecommunication technology in accessing insurance is a step closer towards making the service widely available to more people services will help mobilize more people to use insurance services and boost the industry as a whole.
“VODABIMA service is revolutionary in a sense that it will make it easy and cheaper for clients to access a variety of insurance services from providers. Clients will not have to visit insurance companies in person as they can access insurance services easily and conveniently on their phones. In addition, as the public become more educated on mitigating risk through use of insurance services.”
Launch of VodaBima is part of Vodacom’s inclusive and digital agenda and another step further in bringing services closer to customers through mobile innovation and technology.
