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Airtel Ghana has offered its platform to extend life insurance cover to its customers for free. Customers of the network only need to willingly sign up to the service by dialing a short code for their information to be forwarded to partners, MicroEnsure and Enterprise Life. Dubbed Airtel Insurance, the service covers hospitalisation arising from natural causes, accident and death or permanent disability and is available to all subscribers of the network. �The benefits of Airtel Insurance are countless, as it seeks to provide a platform for anyone who is on the Airtel network to have access to insurance, namely life, accident and hospital,� the Chief Executive of Airtel Ghana, Mr Philip Sowah, said. Airtel, MicroEnsure which specialises in micro insurance with robust database management, as well as Enterprise Life, a blue chip life assurance company, jointly launched the service in Accra on January 7. This means that while Enterprise Life would be in charge of providing the cover, Airtel would pay the claims on behalf of their customers who sign up, while MicroEnsure would manage the database and process claims as and when they fall due. Mr Sowah said customer satisfaction was the rationale for the introduction, to enable them to enhance the quality of life, especially among the often ignored and under-covered informal sector. The insurance companies, on the other hand, are happy to use Airtel�s nationwide coverage to cover the uninsured. �We have always believed in innovation and bringing relevant products and services to our consumers in Ghana. We do not only want our customers to love our service, but to also cherish the relationship,� the Airtel Ghana CEO stressed. Statistics While insurance penetration in Ghana is less than seven per cent, against the African average of less than three per cent, mobile phone penetration is 110 per cent as against the 63 per cent African average. This makes it appropriate for the partnership to deepen life assurance, which continues to be under-patronised in the country. Micro insurance, therefore, offers insurance to the informal market which is not the traditional target for the formal life insurance companies. The insurance products for this segment of the market, therefore, comes with features that promote simplicity, affordability and accessibility, which Airtel Insurance has provided for. The benefits According to the partners, the Airtel Insurance cover is designed to cover all subscribers of the network, provided they use a minimum monthly airtime of GH�5.00. The cover for any given month is determined by the total amount of airtime spent on the number the previous month. The cover is also renewed each month based on your airtime usage, with usage from GH�50 and above attracting up to GH�2,500 cash pay-outs. The General Manager of Operations at Enterprise Life, Mrs Belnye, said since mobile telecom providers such as Airtel had made deep inroads into the informal sector, it was natural for insurance companies to piggyback to reach the uncovered. �Enterprise Life brings to this great partnership professionalism and excellence and this is evident in our recognition and awards as leader in the financial services sector,� she said. The Country Manager of MicroEnsure, Ms Adjoa Boateng, said as a microfinance specialist, the company was consistent in providing innovative and accessible insurance products for the people that really needed them. The company, which has been operating in the country for the past five years, has partnerships with some banks, which enabled it to pay claims to about 300 market fire victims last year. MicroEnsure boasts of a good database and verification systems that enable it to process claims in record time. Ms Boateng believes that system would appeal to millions of Ghanaians and their loved ones.