MR Microinsurance_2012_03_29.indd - International Labour ...

360 Insurance and the low-income market
Exploiting the social capital of migration
Organizations such as church groups, home town associations and immigrant
outreach centres that have already gained the trust of migrants, either because of
a long-standing relationship with the community or through the provision of
other services, can help insurers gain the trust of migrants, as Pioneer has done
with the Catholic Church in the Philippines (see Box 17.6). Another way insurers
can informally make use of the social capital created by migrant communities is
through referral schemes, whereby insurers reward migrants for referring their
friends to the company. In Hong Kong, for example, the migrants can be
awarded points for buying its SparxX cards and referring others.
Box 17.6 Pioneer’s Savings and Wellness Clubs
Pioneer Group partnered with the Catholic Church in the Philippines to reach
out to the families of migrants. Th rough its parishes, the church organizes
Savings and Wellness Clubs that seek to help the families better manage their
fi nances and make better use of their remittances. Th e Savings and Wellness
Clubs bundle Pioneer’s SparxX savings and life insurance product with personal
accident and accidental medical reimbursement cover. In addition, fi nancial
literacy training is provided periodically in a group setting. Th e annual cost of
joining the clubs is US$10 for adults and US$8 for those under sixteen.
As at June 2010, Pioneer had signed up approximately 1 000 club members
in its fi rst six months. Around 20 per cent of those attending the launches it co-
hosted with the Church have enrolled, which the insurer considers reasonable.
A bigger challenge is the Church’s capacity to organize promotional campaigns
as there is only one full-time Church employee working on the project. In
addition, few members regularly save or top up their SparxX cards after paying
the initial fee.
Sources: Interviews with Noel Deguzman and Geric Laude of Pioneer Life and Pioneer Group; and
www.pioneer.com.ph.
17.4.2 Policy issuance
In schemes where migrants are paying for insurance for their family members, it
can be logistically challenging for insurers to obtain the necessary information
and issue the policy to the family, partly due to restrictions on insuring third parties.
Some insurers have structured their schemes so that the migrant makes the
payment in the host country and passes on the personal details of the family
member to the insurer. Th e family member is then responsible for fi lling out the
application. For example, a home-country-based insurer might insure migrants’