Investment to help BIMA deliver 75,000 low-cost insurance policies within two years, specifically targeting underserved Highlands and Women
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 20th May 2015— BIMA and the Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP) have launched a partnership to provide microinsurance products to underserved communities across Papua New Guinea (PNG).
The goal of the investment will allow BIMA to bring simple, affordable microinsurance products to low-income, rural, unbanked and underserved Papua New Guineans. BIMA will offer customers both life and hospitalisation insurance services. The partnership aims to deliver over 75,000 low-cost insurance policies to rural Papua New Guineans within two years; 50% of which will be women and 90% of which be in the rural, Highlands.
The UN Resident Coordination in PNG Roy Trivedy stated; “insurance penetration as a percentage of GDP in Papua New Guinea is shockingly low; less than 2%, compared to the global average of 7.5%. Low-income households are not covered because of four major obstacles; education, distribution, pricing and premium collection. We are excited to support BIMA, whom we believe has a unique scalable business model capable of bringing affordable and accessible insurance to the Highlands Region”.
Puay Lim, Regional Manager, SE Asia for BIMA commented “Our mission is to bring vital insurance services to underserved people who can benefit from it the most. This partnership gives us an opportunity to increase our impact in the country, especially within the communities in the Highlands. We welcome the chance to work with the PFIP who, along with our other local partners, Digicel and Capital Life, share our ambition of driving financial inclusion within PNG on a mass-scale.
PFIP’s partnership and investment in Bima is made possible through the support of the European Union and the Australian Government, and through the commitment of the Bank of Papua New Guinea (BPNG) and its Governor, Loi Bakani.
“The European Union along with Bank of Papua New Guinea are extremely pleased about our support to the Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme that made possible this investment in BIMA – a mobile microinsurance provider that will expand to the Highlands and make insurance more affordable for the people who need it most”, said European Union Ambassador Martin Dihm
BIMA’s ‘Family Life’ life insurance starts from K3.6 per month with a highest cover of K12, 000. The ‘Hausik Insurance’ Hospitalisation insurance also stars from k3.6 per month and pays out up to K96 per night spent in hospital.
About PFIP
PFIP aims to add one million Pacific Islanders to the formal financial sector by 2019 by spearheading policy and regulatory initiatives, facilitating access to appropriate financial services and delivery channels and by strengthening financial competencies and consumer empowerment.
PFIP is a Pacific-wide programme helping low-income households gain access to quality and affordable financial services and financial education. It is jointly managed by the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and receives funding from the Australian Government, the European Union and the New Zealand Government.
PFIP operates from the UNDP Pacific Centre in Suva, Fiji and has offices in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. It will open an office in Samoa in 2015.