Pakistan: Mobile money firm offers micro-insurance

MANILA, Philippines - Pakistan’s Easypaisa, a mobile money provider, introduced a life insurance scheme last year, which has 250,000 subscribers, with 20 percent of users maintaining the minimum deposit in any given month. The micro-insurance service called Khusaal Beema was launched by Easypaisa, a partnership between Telenor Pakistan and Tameer Micro Finance Bank, in collaboration with Adamjee Life Insurance and aimed at those who earn an income of less than $2 a day. The scheme is available to anyone who opens an Easypaisa mobile account with an average monthly balance of approximately $20. The deposit amount is not locked, and the customer is allowed to withdraw the funds whenever needed. Customers can sign up by calling a helpline number and the insurance pays out around $500 for a natural death and $990 for an accidental death. So far, Easypaisa processed and paid out 24 claims worth more than $25,000. With only 0.5 percent penetration in the country, Pakistan has one of the lowest insurance penetration levels in the South Asian region. Easypaisa claims to be the financial service with the most outlets in the country, with 50,000-plus Easypaisa shops in 800 cities, attracting six million users every month. It also has 2.8 million users who have subscribed to Easypaisa Mobile Accounts. Nearly 400,000 transactions take place on the service every day and, in 2013, Easypaisa moved one percent of Pakistan’s GDP.