Tackling the challenges of affordability, accessibility and complexity in emerging market insurance solutions

Alpha Direct and GENRIC Insurance Company have joined forces to bring insurance product innovation to South Africa’s emerging insurance market where the protection gap of uninsured risks leaves millions of people facing serious financial and personal liability when things go wrong.

Alpha Direct is an Africa-focused Insurtech using data cloud, big data and AI to deliver insurance products for Africa’s growing consumer market. It is the fifth largest non-life insurance underwriter in its home market of Botswana and is now focused on regional expansion into the South African market. The company recently won the ‘African Insurance Award for Innovation of the Year’ award for its patented ‘Insurance in a Box’ solution, which is being introduced to the South African market.

“’Insurance in a Box’ is an innovative insurance solution that addresses many of the challenges of why insurance penetration and financial inclusion remain challenging in African markets - namely access and distribution, affordability, technology, insurance education and payments. Our partnership with GENRIC to bring this product to South Africa will fundamentally improve the outcomes, costs, and efficiencies for emerging market insurance consumers,” explains Arjun Parameswaran, Group Chief Operating Officer of Alpha Direct.

The first of the ‘Insurance in a Box’ products to be rolled out in South Africa is motor third-party insurance.  This boxed and packaged insurance product answers a huge concern in the South African market – that of a vast number of uninsured vehicles on the road - with easy-to-understand policy terms and coverage, that is tangible and provides instant protection once activated through a network of retail distribution partners.

“This allows a previously uninsured person to purchase and pay for simple insurance cover immediately, so that they walk out the door with the security of being covered. While the boxed product provides the customer with the tangibility of having a product and policy in hand, the activation and policy management is instantly fulfilled via a cloud-based policy management platform,” adds Arjun.

Cornel Schoeman, Chief Operating Officer at GENRIC Insurance adds that the insurance market needs serious innovation and investment in overhauling traditional insurance and distribution models to protect the most vulnerable citizens in the face of growing risks like climate change and weather catastrophe, the burden of disease, crime and social upheaval.

“The ‘Insurance in a Box’ concept answers many of the challenges faced in bringing emerging market consumers onto the insurance ladder by providing highly specific coverage, in the simplest of terms and conditions in an accessible and affordable way. Simplicity is key, from the product design, terms and conditions, coverage, through to onboarding and the claims process. And finally, while Insurtech is fundamentally valuable in the improvement of processes in the insurance value chain which leads to lower costs and better customer experiences and service, we also know that in markets where insurance penetration, financial literacy and trust in insurers is low, consumers still want and need the face-to-face engagement in the purchase and onboarding process – something that Insurance in a Box brings together seamlessly through its patented application and process,” explains Cornel.