Facebook Inc’s WhatsApp is planning to launch health insurance and micro-pension products on its messaging platform in India. They plan to roll out the service through tie-ups with licensed financial services players. The messaging platform aims to provide greater access to financial solutions to users in India.
India is the biggest market for WhatsApp with a user base of 400 million. The Facebook-owned tech giant is working in partnership with financial institutions on leaders of micro-insurance, and micro pension products. The messaging platform is partnering with the SBI General Insurance to offer customers with health insurance products. The move comes from the tech giant as a part of its expansion plans of services to finance, commerce, education and social welfare in 2021.
Abhijit Bose, head of India for WhatsApp is stated that the instant messaging platform is set to partner with SBI General to launch a sachet-health insurance cover and HDFC Pension in the first phase of launch to make available National Pension Scheme (NPS) products on its popular app. The people can protect themselves from unforeseen expenses especially during the pandemic by getting the life and health insurance covers. Abhijit added that some of the micro-finance products which the company has been planning over the last few months could go live within the end of this year.
WhatsApp rolled out its payments services in India after receiving approval from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in the last month. The Facebook-owned tech giant has to compete with players like Paytm, Google Pay, Walmart-owned PhonePe and Amazon Pay in India. Abhijit Bose expressed his plans at Facebook’s Fuel for India 2020 event.
The MD & CEO, SBI General, PC Kandpal, expressed that WhatsApp can help improve the penetration of health insurance in the country. The number is below 4 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) which is lower than the world average of 6.31 per cent. The SBI want to simplify the distribution channel and make it customized and provide sachet health insurance products available across India.
