SIC Insurance, one of the country’s biggest insurers, has said it will soon outdoor an innovation that allows customers to purchase non-life insurance policies using mobile money, among other mobile payment channels, as part of plans to consolidate its market position.
Speaking at a media interaction over the weekend, its Managing Director, Stephen Oduro, said the indigenous insurance company is currently rolling out point of sale devices that allow customers to pay for their premiums using debit cards.
“We have actually, very quietly but effectively, studied the risks involved in using that particular medium for payment and we are ready to go into it. Apart from that, the point of sale devices are all being rolled out,” Mr. Oduro told journalists.
Currently, the company controls about 23 percent of the industry’s total market share, making it one of the biggest – declaring GH¢11million profit last year.
That notwithstanding, insurance penetration in the country is said to be below 5 percent of the total population – a situation Mr. Oduro said SIC is committed to improving.
Penetration roadmap
The company, he stated, has put in place an insurance penetration revolution roadmap that is seeking to confront deep-rooted hindrances in the sector; such as low public confidence, coupled with a deep-seated mistrust of insurance companies.
“We are focusing on increasing the level of education with its associated awareness of legal rights; have transformed claim payment; and made insurance policy documents easier to understand for the general public,” he added.
According to Mr. Oduro, SIC Insurance has rolled-out a transparent mechanism to live up to its promise to pay genuine claims promptly, and revamped its structures to ensure that aggrieved policyholders or claimants do not go through cumbersome legal hurdles.
The company, he said, seeks to increase professionalism in handling clients at both the underwriting and, especially, claims-handling stages; changing the attitude of front-line staff; and being innovative in its approach to business by embracing technology to enhance service delivery.
He also called for an effective and robust regulator to ensure and monitor standardisation across the industry as well as create awareness for the public.
Mr. Oduro said under the SIC Insurance Penetration Roadmap, “We are also tackling issues of the industry through building adequate human capacity. A systematic attempt at training and retraining the human resource is key to promoting the industry; we are leading the insurance revolution”.