Zimbabwe's largest mobile telecoms company, Econet Wireless and Trustco Mobile, a division of JSE-listed Trustco Group Holdings, have rolled out free life insurance cover to 4.5 million Econet cellular subscribers in Zimbabwe.
EcoLife is part of an initiative by Econet, to give Zimbabweans access to life insurance via pre-packaged airtime on their mobile phone.
Insurance giant, First Mutual Life, an arm of Afre Corporation, has teamed up with the two telcos to facilitate the insurance claims process.
African expansion
During the announcement in Harare, Quentin van Rooyen, MD of Trustco Mobile told ITWeb it was a natural progression for the company to expand its strategy into Zimbabwe.
partner to drive a service that would differentiate it from its competitors and that the partnership was a good fit.
“Our next market that we're looking at will be Kenya and Ghana. Econet has also looked to expand the product to other regions that [it] operates in,” said Van Rooyen.
He said Trustco Mobile has recognised SA as a market to roll out a similar service, but at this stage, the company will focus on perfecting the product in Namibia and Zimbabwe before identifying a South African service provider to partner with.
“Three years ago, we wouldn't have invested in this region, because of the poor economy and exchange rate, but now because of the development and innovation that's starting we think the time is right,” Van Rooyen said.
The fine print
According to Econet, EcoLife will be sold as part of a $3 monthly airtime package. The package entitles the subscriber to 15 minutes of airtime, six free SMSes and up to $10 000 in life cover.
Subscribers can then receive the life cover by messaging the word 'EcoLife' to 3111, which will lead to registration instructions.
To qualify for the cover, subscribers need to recharge their accounts with a minimum of $3 every month, and thereafter ever dollar goes towards increasing the life cover. For instance, an airtime voucher worth $1 to $4 will produce $10 to $40 of life cover, and a voucher of $11 to $100 will produce $1 100 and $10 000.
According to Econet's CEO Douglas Mboweni, this means the more airtime a subscriber purchases, the more cover they get, up to a maximum payout of $10 000. He adds that no insurance premiums or medical examinations are required.
However, Econet says that life cover is determined by monthly airtime recharges for up to six months prior to the death of the insurer. Claim qualification is based on a six-month continuous subscription to the package, thereby committing the subscriber to topping up the life cover. Any skipped subscription invalidates claim capability.
On 28 September, the Zimbabwe Insurance and Pensions Regulator granted Econet permission to introduce the product in the country, which went live today.
At the time of the announcement, Trustco Mobile's share price increased by 12% from 58c to 65c. Trustco Mobile is headquartered in Namibia and has offices in SA and now Zimbabwe. Its mobile platform was developed in Cape Town.
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