The Rural Banker’s Association of Philippines provides microinsurance training
MicrofinanceFocus, 27 April 2011
RBAP is organizing a Basic Microinsurance Training Course scheduled to be held on May 5th and 6th, 2011 at Cebu City.
The training course will be offered to rural banks that wish to explore opportunities or benefits offered by microinsurance sales and servicing, ensure regulatory compliance of their microinsurance services, enhance the bank’s current microinsurance services and build up the capabilities of bank staff for microinsurance implementation.
The training will also provide banks with a comprehensive guide in the licensing and approval process with the Insurance Commission, Bangko Sentral and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Tools and guides on insurer selection and service enhancements will also be included in the Participant’s Kit.
The Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) focuses on rural banking recognized around the world, operating as a partner to the government in the development and implementation of policies and legislation that support rural economic development through the delivery of effective and appropriate banking services.
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Philippines ambitions to cover 20% of the population in 2011
A FIFTH of the population could be insured by the end of the year as insurers gear up to answer a pent-up demand for protection among the country’s poor. “Microinsurance is getting a lot of attention. Everybody is interested.” IC Chief Insurance Specialist Reynaldo M. Vergara told BusinessWorld in a phone interview last Wednesday. “We could have 20% of the population insured by the end of 2011.”
According to the latest IC data, only 13.90% of the population was insured in 2009. The insurance penetration rate -- total premiums as percentage of gross domestic product -- was a mere 1.02% that year.
The microinsurance market is growing because there are small, medium and large providers of the low-cost insurance products now, Mr. Vergara explained.
Four insurers -- Pioneer Life, Inc., Philippine Prudential Life Insurance Company, Inc., Asian Life & General Assurance Corp. and Manila Bankers Life Insurance Corp. -- as well as 12 mutual benefit associations (MBAs) are just some of the providers that have submitted microinsurance products for the IC’s approval, he said.
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CGAP Technology blogs about mobile banking and microinsurance
Post by Chris Bold, 25 April 2011
In previous blogs Mark Pickens has lamented the lack of innovation by branchless banking providers in products that go beyond payments. But there are some green-shoots of innovation. In this blog we take a look at some examples of early experiments that we have seen involving in microinsurance.
It could be argued that microinsurance is the ideal financial product to be offered via branchless banking. Insurance requires a large base of customers: the larger the base, the more diversified the risk for the insurer, and the cheaper the insurer is able to offer the product. And branchless banking, we have long argued, is a business built on high volumes and low margins.
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Micro protection plan made available in Malaysia
Asia Insurance Review, Vol. II Issue 79, 21 March 2011
With an initial monthly payment of less than RM20 (USD 6.63), Malaysians can now avail themselves of insurance or takaful protection under the Malaysia Micro Protection Plan.
In a statement, the General Insurance Association of Malaysia says that the plan, developed by the insurance and takaful industry together with the support of the central bank, Bank Negara, is open to small businesses. It is also open to micro enterprises and individuals seeking accessible and affordable financial protection in managing unexpected events such as death, illnesses, accidents, fires and loss of property.
The plan offers four options: life insurance, family takaful, general insurance and general takaful. The conventional and takaful products share common features in coverage, terms and conditions and premiums. The plan will be made available through selected banks and financial institutions which collaborate with participating insurers and takaful operators to distribute the product.
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Thailand's government pushes rice insurance programme
Asia Insurance Review, Vol, II Issue 75, 17 March 2011
The Thai government is offering crop insurance to rice farmers for their first crop of the 2011-12 season due in August. All rice farmers are encouraged to join the scheme because of the higher frequency of natural disasters in the country in recent years.
The government is seeking cooperation from insurance companies and the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Co-operatives (BAAC) to help implement the scheme. Around 70% of Thai farmers are BAAC clients.
However, BAAC, insurance companies and farmers have been slow to accept the scheme, expressing concern over the criteria laid down for the scheme and the definition of natural disasters, because each region uses different criteria. The Interior Ministry has yet to clarify the criteria. This cold reception by the stakeholders could delay implementation of the crop insurance scheme.
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Holcim cements their interest in insurance
Bloomberg, 7 April 2011
Holcim Ltd. (HOLN), the world’s second biggest cement maker, is teaming up with an insurance company to sell building materials and homes to Indonesians as it seeks to benefit from the future middle class in the emerging markets.
The product will cost the customer as little as USD 0.67 a year and is designed to help low-income individuals limit their financial risk when they buy construction material or fertilisers. The policy, which is underwritten by Zurich Financial Services, pays out when a house is struck by an earthquake or tsunami, allowing first-time home builders to protect themselves when they make a large investment.
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5th Asian Conference on Microinsurance
The 5th Asian Microinsurance Conference, organised by Asia Insurance Review will be held in Indonesia this year between 11-12 July 2011. The theme is "Micro-Reinsurance: Defining the Future Commercial Opportunity in Microinsurance" as the organisers feel the next major advancement in the sector will be the development of risk management and secondary risk transfer towards financial stabilisation and market development.
On top of looking how Asia as a whole has embraced microinsurance, the conference will also examine how some markets are pushing microinsurance, evaluate key success strategies, ways to build capacity and expedite the maturation process of the market, understand its importance and other enterprise risk management strategies and accessing efficient and effective secondary risk transfer mechanisms.
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Microinsurance Catastrophe Risk Organization for Haiti
Insurance and Technology, 31 March 2011
The Microinsurance Catastrophe Risk Organization (MiCRO) is an international consortium including Swiss Re, Guy Carpenter and Mercy Corps, which has created what it calls a scalable, innovative model to combat the financial impact of natural disasters for Haitians.
The co-founder Swiss Re describes this new facility as an insurance facility to empower Haiti's micro-entrepreneurs to protect themselves against the economic aftermath of severe natural catastrophes.
Swiss Re's partners in the MiCRO initiatives are Caribbean Risk Managers Ltd. (CaribRM), the risk analytics arm of CGM Gallagher Group; GC Micro Risk Solutions, a division of broker Guy Carpenter & Co.; Fonkonze, Haiti's leading microfinance institution; and Mercy Corps, an international humanitarian organisation for relief and development.
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