YuMobile, a Kenyan mobile phone service provider; MicroEnsure, a UK-based subsidiary of Opportunity International; and Jubilee Insurance, a Kenyan insurance provider, recently partnered to offer life and disability insurance called yuCover for yuMobile’s pre-pay subscribers. The service is underwritten by Jubilee. YuMobile phone users qualify for this insurance by purchasing minimum monthly airtime top ups of KES 100 (USD 1.17), and as the amount of the top up increases, so does the insurance cover. The amount covered ranges from KES 10,000 (USD 117) to KES 60,000 (USD 704) per month. YuMobile will offer the service for free through October 31, 2012 after which an unspecified fee will be charged.
As of 2012, yuMobile reported approximately 2.3 million subscribers. MicroEnsure reported approximately 3.5 million clients as of 2011.
By Charlotte Newman, Research Associate
About MicroEnsure
MicroEnsure was founded in 2005 in the UK as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Opportunity International, a US-based nonprofit microfinance network created in 1974. MicroEnsure was known as the Micro Insurance Agency until 2008. As an insurance intermediary, it provides a range of products including health, life, property and weather index- based insurance to approximately 3.5 million poor clients in Ghana, India, Bangladesh, Mozambique, Malawi, the Philippines, Tanzania and Kenya as of 2011.
Sources and Additional Resources:
MicroEnsure Press Release: “Microensure Launhes Mobile Insurance with Third Mobile Partner in Africa,” http://www.microensure.com/news.asp?id=238&start=0
MicroCapital.org story, March 8, 2012, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroEnsure Ghana to Launch Credit Health Insurance for Microfinance Clients,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-microensure-ghana-to-launch-credit-health-insurance-for-microfinance-clients/
MicroCapital.org story, November 9, 2011, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroEnsure, Tigo, Milvik, Golden Crescent to Deliver Tigo Bima Microinsurance Product in Tanzania,” https://www.microcapital.org/
microcapital-brief-microensure-tigo-milvik-golden-crescent-to-deliver-tigo-bima-microinsurance-product-in-tanzania/
MicroCapital Universe Profile: MicroEnsure
http://microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=MicroEnsure
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