Insurtech has a growing role in Pakistan, and it can change lives through better financial smarts

ByMuhammad Waqar Asghar for e.27

In Pakistan, insurance is now becoming even more accessible to the market, thanks to the ongoing digital transformation, which can help grow the industry and improve coverage for customers

Insurance is a very large industry, and it is growing rapidly. With digital insurance becoming a buzzword in major markets, it’s worthwhile exploring its benefits. Let’s take a closer look at the growing role of digital insurance specifically in Pakistan.

As with many growing industries, insurance is a vital part of many financial markets. In Pakistan, insurance is now becoming even more accessible to the market, thanks to the ongoing digital transformation happening in its marketplace. More people are using web, smartphones and mobile devices, and this means that more customers are easily reachable.

The current state of insurance in Pakistan

According market analysis, the insurance sector of Pakistan is relatively smaller as compared to its neighbouring countries. However various industry reforms directors by the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SCEP) are aiming to enhance the overall look and image of Pakistani insurance industry. Various directives by SCEP are also focussing to ensure insurance companies offer enhanced digital service offerings, awareness, and better reach to the potential customers.

The ongoing strategic multi-national initiatives such as China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) are also creating a huge stimulus for the economic activity within the country. Since the middle-class segment is growing in Pakistan, it presents good opportunity to increase the penetration.

According to studies by The Insurance Association of Pakistan (IAP), PKR 68 billion (US$648.58 million) of gross premiums were written by 37 companies in 2015. Going digital brings enormous opportunity for insurance companies with increased reach to the target customer segments in Pakistan.

Pakistan used to be a bit slow in terms of transforming to insurance products, largely due to the religious views of the majority of the population. However this is changing as we are moving into the digital age, and the insurance industry in Pakistan is expected to grow as well.

Specialised insurance cover

When it comes to insurance cover, it’s important to have the right cover, at the right price. This is why more and more people are researching and comparing insurance products before they buy. With the rapid growth in technology, users are now able to instantly review specific insurance products, compare insurance providers, and search for an affordable premium that will suit their pocket perfectly. Mawazna.com, a Pakistan-based financial services aggregator platform, offers its customer a similar facility to compare insurance products and reviewing the premiums online.

Digital is changing how insurance works

There are many reasons why digital is changing the insurance industry for the better, and these include the following:

• Digital is easier to keep track of;
• Finding insurance providers online is faster and easier;
• Offline insurance policies are not user-friendly;
• With digital, information is readily available.

Benefitting from leading technologies

With the help of modern online comparison platforms, you can easily find insurance providers in Pakistan that will meet your needs with the retail insurance products. It will help you to decide what policy and cover is ideal for your family addressing your specific needs, and give you helpful insight by comparing popular policies side-by-side.

By comparing insurance products, you can benefit by:

• Looking at comparative premiums;
• Looking at qualification criteria for each policy;
• Viewing special features and benefits of a product;
• Finding popular insurance providers in Pakistan;
• Ensuring you have the cover you need.

Such platforms make it easy to compare policies, amounts, benefits and more. You can make informed decisions when you have everything you need to choose the right insurance online. It’s important for Pakistan to see a growing market, especially one so large and benefiting from the growing digital adoption.

Being a digital aggregator platform, Mawazna offers a fintech service to Pakistani consumers that provides a game-changing opportunity for everyone to get better value products offered by financial institutes (banking and insurance) in Pakistan resulting in cost and time savings. We aim to redefine the customer expectations by satisfying consumer needs through a highly customised and tailored comparison engine.

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The author is founder at Mawanza.com, a leading insurance services digital comparison platform that allows consumers in Pakistan to choose the best insurance product for their personal needs, enabling customer to compare a selection of insurance, loans, banking, broadband products, and more.