Microinsurance provides a safety net for vulnerable, low income groups, protecting them against natural disasters, and allowing them to grow their businesses. Therefore, it is a very powerful tool in reducing poverty and improving the lives of the poor.
The Center for Agriculture and Rural Development Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI) is a group of 20 companies promoting financial inclusion. Through these CARD companies, 17,000 staff provide microfinance credit, life and non-life insurance (ie disaster and crop insurance), banking, financial education, investment, healthcare, publishing and aid.
The Microinsurance Centre estimates the market could grow to 1 billion policyholders in the next ten years. As it stands in developing countries, only 5% of the potential microinsurance market is being covered.
CARD Microinsurance
There are three approaches to CARD MRI’s microinsurance offerings. Firstly, there is CARD MBA which is owned by its members and which focuses on life insurance. CARD MBA is the largest mutual insurer in the Philippines and currently insures approximately 27 million lives. The total amount paid out for insurance claims to the lowest-income families in the Philippines is more than USD 291 million. Secondly, there is CaMIA, the broker company of the CARD family of companies. Lastly, a joint venture of CARD with Pioneer; is called CARD Pioneer, where the focus is on non-life insurance. CARD Pioneer has so far sold USD 93 million worth of premium cover and paid almost USD 40 million worth in claims.
CARD Microinsurance offers financial products, life insurance programmes, retirement funds, loan redemption funds, golden life insurance for retired members and non-financial products. There is also a CARD MRI Disaster Relief Assistance Programme.
The ICMIF 5-5-5 Mutual Microinsurance Strategy (The 5-5-5)
The ICMIF 5-5-5 was launched in June 2016 to insure low income people, build resilience, and focus on long-term sustainability. It was the first programme of The ICMIF Foundation.
To date, the insurance policies sold cost about USD 0.75 per policy and because these are family insurance policies, the total number of lives positively impacted is approximately 14,261,005.
The ICMIF Foundation has ongoing projects in the Philippines and India and in total, 30 cooperative and mutual insurance companies have helped to raise more than USD 2 million to support the project partners of the 5-5-5 to scale up their microinsurance programmes so far.
Going forward, The ICMIF Foundation aims to reach even more people with mutual microinsurance and continue to impact the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
