mTek leverages on digitisation to break insurance penetration barrier

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 10 – In a bid to break the three percent barrier of insurance penetration,  digital insurance platform, mTek is banking on digitization to among others tackle the lack of transparency and the rigid payment structures of most policies.

Launched in 2020, m-Tek provides a paperless system for the insurance industry and has onboarded 35 Kenyan underwriters majority of whom have a 95 percent penetration in the Kenyan market.

It allows clients to purchase insurance directly from the insurer, compare insurance policies, and file claims directly through their smart devices.

The firm’s CEO, Bente Krogmann, while speaking to Capital FM Business, said the firm is banking on technology and increased sensitization to encourage more people to adopt insurance policies and improve welfare and protection against emergencies.

Digitization, she said has the power to accelerate growth and efficiency by revolutionizing customer experience and eliminating the laborious insurance paperwork through an elaborate know your customer framework.

“When you look at the challenges of penetration, the majority of them can be dealt with increased technology. With M-Tek, you know what you buy, you have information about the specifications and with transparency, you can easily access these services access at your phone, that is what we are offering our clients at mTEK,” she said.

She also noted that a rigid payment system especially the regulation requiring 100 percent payment in advance for medical insurance is unsustainable for many Kenyans who face challenges with meeting their daily needs.

Unlike the traditional insurance way, she said the firm has adopted flexible payment whereby users can subscribe on a monthly basis.

“Many people can afford monthly rates easily and at m-Tek, we have secured funds and our clients can pay their annual premiums on a monthly basis at a small interest rate, we need to develop products for SMEs for which individuals can tap and pay as low as Sh200,” she remarked.

She urged stakeholders in the insurance industry to evolve and transform even as she acknowledged the challenges of digitizing a sector that is already profitable.

“Digitisation comes with a high cost of investing which might restrict other projects and being a large industry which employs a lot of people, there is a point which could mean organization restructuring which may lead to redundancies,” she added.

“Coming in as a digital platform, there is some pushback on how we are doing things differently and the fear of the unknown, we may need time to convince market players to do things differently,” she added.

As part of its future outlook, she said the platform seeks to widen its distribution to the less developed areas where insurance firms are not well established.

In terms of cyber security and fraud concerns, she said that mTek has invested in research and product development to better understand its customers …..