How Singlife fights low insurance penetration rates

It offers embedded insurance products through digital wallets like GCash.

The Philippines’ low insurance penetration, albeit a narrower figure than the previous year’s, is compelling insurers to transcend their offerings into a more viable option for the everyday Filipino, such as electronic wallets.

With embedded insurance expected to skyrocket $270b (P14.99t) in gross written premiums by 2030, insurers like Singlife have been trickling their way to fill these protection gaps.

Low insurance penetration

“To put this into perspective, we understand that the insurance penetration rate in the Philippines is at only 1.75%. This means that a majority of Filipinos are at risk for financial distress during unforeseen circumstances like medical emergencies, which potentially affects their finances for children’s education, and for their retirement,” Richard Vargo, Singlife Group head of products, propositions and transformation, told Insurance Asia.

On the other hand, data from the Philippines’ Insurance Commission showed that insurance penetration, or the premium volume as a share of gross domestic product or contribution of the insurance sector to the national economy, as of September 2023 stood at 1.68%, smaller than the 1.81% in the previous year.

What troubles the Filipinos?