UBX bullish on expansion of PHL embedded insurance market

UBX PHILIPPINES Corp. is bullish on the growth prospects of embedded insurance in the country as the market remains under-penetrated.

The fintech arm of UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc. said the increased use of digital channels will help attract more consumers to avail of embedded insurance, UBX Philippines President and Chief Executive Officer John Januszczak said at an online forum on Wednesday.

“Digital natives engage with companies in new and different ways. With the emergence of subscription models — like Netflix and Spotify, the sharing economy, like Airbnb and Grab, cryptocurrency — insurance likewise needs to be digitally native,” Mr. Januszczak said.

Embedded insurance works by making it an add-on to another product or service accessed by a consumer.

UBX has an embedded insurance platform called Assured. UBX, through its payments channel i2i, offers consumers paying bills via the platform access to a personal accident insurance underwritten by Chubb.

Mr. Januszczak said they want to offer embedded insurance to Filipinos through e-commerce.

“The Philippines’ e-commerce market for consumers grew to P200 billion and with this comes the risk of mishaps in delivery. Imagine protection for lost or damaged items, extendable returns and failed delivery takes directly into the online shopping experience,” he said.

Another sector that could benefit from embedded insurance are micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) struggling during the crisis, he added. —