Sunday 29 June 2014

Insurance services go mobile in Malawi

By Gregory Gondwe
The country’s leading insurance firm, Nico General Insurance Company Limited has disclosed that in the next four months it will be bringing to the market mobile phone services where its established clientele as well as prospective ones will be able to access all their services.

Both the company Chief Executive Officer Eric Chapola and Assistant General Manager Donbell Mandala who is responsible for operations that include underwriting, marketing and business development said this is the next big innovation that their company is bringing to the market.

"At Nico General we ensure that we remain very innovative and remain a market leader. We believe that in the next five or ten years we should remain innovative," said Mandala adding that justifying this position the major product or service that they are bringing on market called USSD Mobile Solution.

He insisted that they are bringing this product in the next two to three months to the insurance consumers who will be able to access it 24/7.

"We want to reduce the pain you suffer when you come to our office and access some of our services," said Mandala.

He explained that with this product customers will be able through an SMS or through logging in using their cellular phone to get more details about their products and more details about the policies that they have on offer.

"You can access your renewal information; you can access your premium statement and for most of you can access the claim status of your policy. Through the same function, you’ll be able to check your balances but also be able to check where you can access some of our service providers," said Mandala to a cross section of their clients who had earlier on participated in a golf tournament the company organised in Dwangwa Nkhotakota district over the weekend.

He explained that customers will also be able to access information on their clients that provide emergency mechanical services they might need and be able to get contacts especially when stranded in the middle of nowhere with a faulty vehicle.

"We believe it’s a milestone and we will be implementing it fully in the next three or four months," he said.

CEO Chapola said the new product that they will be launching is meant to make interaction between Nico and customers easy.

"You don’t have to come to our offices any more. From your machines; laptops, cell phones you should be able to interact with us. You should also be able at a later stage even to pay your premiums through this system," said Chapola before challenging: "No other company by the way is even thinking to take that route."

However for the initiative to become successful, Mandala said they will be launching an aggressive campaign that will move them forward to that level they are itching to reach

"In the next one of two weeks we’ll go full throttle on that and we’ll need your support. Because we need to acquire more details about your our clients; future clients and existing clients so that the database that we have should give us the foundation for you to be able to access the system full and also that the system should be more effective," he said.

He therefore asked for support on that initiative from the business community.

Already Nico operates an online service aided by an advanced insurance software solutions which is a suite that is designed to proficiently perform all the functions of an insurance company through their interactive website that allows clients to fill in and submit proposal and claim forms and any other query online.

Source BiztechAfrica

No comments: