Softlogic Life
Softlogic Life
Bringing affordable life and health insurance to low-income earners in Sri Lanka.
BCTA MEMBERSHIP STATUS
Alumni
SECTOR
Financial Services
HEADQUARTERS
Sri Lanka
REGION OF INITIATIVE
Asia & Pacific
SDG CONTRIBUTION
RELATED NEWS
Sri Lankan insurance provider Softlogic Life has joined Business Call to Action with a commitment to provide access to life and medical insurance policies for millions of low-income earners and livelihood opportunities to 3,000 more as distributors of insurance, by 2024.
Close to 45 percent of Sri Lanka’s population lives at the bottom of the economic pyramid (BoP). Many of them are daily wage earners lacking financial stability and job security; if they are unable to work due to sickness or injury they are vulnerable to slipping into poverty. Only 14 percent of Sri Lankans have life insurance; affordability, convenience, accessibility and the fact that it is not mandatory are cited as key barriers to people purchasing it.
Softlogic Life observed that the lower-income segment shied away from paperwork and sophisticated selling mechanisms. They realized the means of penetrating into these segments would have to be done in simple ways for BoP populations to access life and health insurance services. Hence a mobile technology solution was identified as a tool to increase the adoption of life insurance by developing an inexpensive, flexible and easy to register insurance method. This innovative technology eliminates paperwork from registration.
The postal network in Sri Lanka is one of the oldest and widely spread networks in the country
As part of getting this mobile technology solution to more of the Sri Lankan population, Softlogic Life joined forces with the Department of Posts Sri Lanka to bring life and health insurance closer to lower-income populations than ever before.
The postal network in Sri Lanka is one of the oldest and widely spread networks in the country, connecting many households together. By leveraging this already established network, Softlogic Life enabled low-income earners to purchase affordable life and health insurance conveniently with the help of simple mobile phone registration.
With mobile penetration over 100% in the country, ensuring familiarity of the registration and payment process, this mechanism eliminates paperwork and other sophisticated technology and is less likely to face friction in terms of product take-up. Since there are over 4,000 post offices and sub-post offices across the country with close to 8,000 postmen, these access points are able to reach more of the Sri Lankan population.
Additionally, Softlogic Life partnered with Sri Lanka’s largest mobile telecommunication provider Dialog Axiata in 2017 to bring their product to those who uses this network in association with microinsurance provider BIMA who enables the logistical operation.
Dialog Axiata, which holds the majority of market share in the country, allowed Softlogic Life the opportunity to reach daily wage earners who use pre-paid mobile connections to put aside as little as 1 rupee a day for a life insurance cover giving them financial stability in the face of uncertainty.
Within the first year of offering this service, Softlogic Life registered over 250,000 new clients, demonstrating how fast insurance penetration can be in the country with the right approach. With an average household size of four, up to 1 million Sri Lankans are directly or indirectly benefitting from the financial security of these products.
Softlogic Life’s health and life insurance covers are affordable and comprehensive and can be purchased by any Sri Lankan through their personal mobiles or from the nearest post office. It offers payment flexibility, which means insurance holders can choose the frequency of payment based on their own financial situation, if the holder can’t afford full payment in a particular month. Given that the registration and payment mechanisms are fast, taking only minutes to carry out the transaction, the probability and product take-up is estimated to be high as it releases the customers from strenuous paperwork and long waiting times.