Free Life Insurance is on the cards for people in India, thanks to a strategic partnership formed between Shriram Life Insurance Company Limited and ‘SureBuddy’ – which functions in the insuretech space by providing innovative financial solutions.
The tieup features offering free life insurance cover of Rs 50,000 to users while also increasing penetration in this market, Casparus Jacobus Hendrik Kromhout, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Shriram Life Insurance Company Limited, said here recently while adding “We aim to bring people into the safety net of life insurance through this initiative which has the potential to reshape the insurance landscape of this country.”
He said the financial solution is made accessible through an android application called “Free Life Insurance powered by SureBuddy,” in which the user receives advertising in their mobile and also gets sponsored life cover. The advertising images are non-disruptive, appearing after a phone call or text message and, with a single tap, can be closed. By dedicating barely five minutes a month in total to viewing advertisements, the user is covered by Shriram and — to keep the cover active — the user must continue to view the advertisements, he said.
“Shriram is in the mass market segment where the loss of breadwinner affects the family and this is a way in which the insurance cover is free since it is paid for by the advertisers. Thus we get the revenue from the advertisers who pay the premiums of the insured people,” Kromhout said, in describing this as the financial inclusion that is being highlighted by the Government while also being part of Shriram Life Insurance’s business.
In a developing country like India, where a death in the family can financially cripple the next of kin, SureBuddy is a welcome solution with potential for offering real relief to individuals and also reshaping the insurance landscape, Johan Basson, Co-founder, SureBuddy— (an international initiative with team members across Africa, Israel and the United Kingdom) – said, adding “The United Nations believes that the mobile phone has the ability to elevate people from poverty. By digitizing, disrupting and demonetizing sectors in the insurance industry, we are able to ensure that the bills are paid in time of need and really make a difference to the family’s future.”
