Insurance apps coming to your mobile phone

MOBILES phones can now be used as an alternative distribution channel for insurance products, regulators said on Monday.

The Insurance Commission said that its recently issued Circular Letter 2018- 07 had supplemented existing guidelines on electronic commerce, allowing insurance firms to use mobile applications to sell products.

The apps can be preinstalled in a mobile device, included as an item in the SIM menu of a mobile network carrier, or made available for download from major digital platforms such as the Apple Store, Google Play or Microsoft Windows Marketplace.

Insurance Commissioner Dennis Funa said the new regulation also provides for payment flexibility.

“Under the enhanced framework, payment of insurance premiums availed through the use of mobile phones may now be paid through automatic deduction to existing load of the user to the network carrier, billed through the postpaid plan or deducted from existing load wallet,” he said.

“However, these payment methods are still subject to existing rules and regulations of the National Telecommunications Commission.”

The new rules, Funa said, address an emerging trend and would “allow insurance providers to collaborate with telecommunications and mobile companies and to develop and introduce new and innovative integrated customer experiences to the insuring public with the use of a mobile phone alone”.

Insurance firms will be allowed to introduce features such as access to different insurance products, payment breakdowns and the filing of insurance claims using a mobile phone, expanding product availability while at the same time improving customer convenience.