Soon, you can buy insurance and pension products on WhatsApp

Soon, you can buy insurance and pension products on WhatsApp

Digbijay.Mishra@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:  17.12.2020

Consumers would be able to buy sachetsized health insurance on WhatsApp by the end of the year, said Abhijit Bose, India head for WhatsApp.

The Facebook-owned platform, which launched payments recently, is running pilots to enable financial services companies to sell microinsurance and pension products to consumers by using its application programming interface (API). This is the first time the company has given a timeline for launching these products in India.

WhatsApp has partnered with SBI General Insurance for health insurance, and is working with HDFC Pension and pinBox Solutions to offer pension products. Bose, who was speaking at a company organised event, said WhatsApp plans to also run similar projects in education and agriculture to reach its 400 million users in India. “WhatsApp has been proactively working on several pilots to help ensure that every adult has access to basic and critical financial and livelihood services through their mobile device,” he said.

TOI reported earlier this year that WhatsApp was working with partners in financial services to offer micro-loans, pensions and other such products. Previously, Bose had cited examples of pension products targeted at the 300 million self-employed workers in India at the cost of just Rs 50 a day.

By partnering with WhatsApp, the financial services firms are hoping to tap into a large set of users. “Unfortunately, the penetration of health insurance is very low, which means it leaves out a large population that needs access to affordable insurance cover. We are keen to contribute to the county by not just bringing an easy and affordable solution, but also an easy and simple distribution platform for the end users,” said Prakash Chandra Kandpal, MD & CEO, SBI General Insurance.

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