Plans for a prototype microinsurance product that combines life protection and savings have been scrapped by the Filipino government. Instead, the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) is designing a life insurance product with simplified features to make it more accessible to the poor.

GIZ is currently aiding the Insurance Commission (IC) in developing a microinsurance framework and prototype products and has funnelled 3 million EUR in aid for the Philippines’ microinsurance programme since 2009. The assistance is scheduled to expire by the end of 2012.

"We decided not to pursue the life-savings product anymore because it will compete directly with the services offered by microfinance institutions and banks," GIZ Senior Finance Adviser Dante O. Portula said.

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