Pakistan: Insurers' prospects buoyed by growing 3G/4G networks
Source: Asia Insurance Review | Feb 2017
Rising 3G/4G mobile technology penetration has boosted the potential for insurers to offer services through mobile applications, according to Mr Arshad Iqbal, Deputy General Manager and head of life operations at EFU Life Assurance.
In Pakistan, with the advent of 3G/4G technology, the number of mobile Internet users has risen sharply in the past couple of years, reported Daily Times.
At present, up to 15% of the population makes use of conventional banking options, which means that a large chunk of people are out of the financial net. “This situation creates a huge market for branchless banking or mobile banking,” Mr Iqbal added. Making recommendations in the latest annual report of the Federal Insurance Ombudsman Pakistan, he said that the concept of up-selling and cross-selling via online media should be adopted by insurance companies to boost insurance penetration.
“I feel that the most useful utilisation of this technology (3G/4G) is an app that can provide clients with handy access to all relevant pieces of information relating to their insurance policies.,” he said. As for premium payment, that could be improved by introducing new payment solutions that could accept payment anywhere – even on clients’ doorstep.