The country’s first microinsurance firm, CARD Pioneer Microinsurance Incorporated, was once again tapped by globally-renowned accelerator Microinsurance Master to discuss its best practices on protecting the livelihoods of millions of low-income households through affordable and accessible insurance solutions.
For the third time, CARD Pioneer hosted Microinsurance Master in the Philippines to share with 20 microinsurance leaders from 14 different countries some transformative frameworks and insights on how it grew its market from 250,000 to over 18 million enrolments in just five years.
CARD Pioneer is a joint venture between Pioneer Group and CARD MRI envisioned to address the calamity, agriculture and income loss insurance needs of the low-income population.
“Our shared vision to eradicate poverty starts from providing Filipinos in the low income bracket affordable and accessible insurance. By understanding their needs and filling the gaps, we were able to not only grow our market but also to protect more Filipinos’ livelihoods from the unforeseen and unavoidable risks ,” said Pioneer Group Head Lorenzo Chan Jr.
The discussion was also attended by CARD MRI Founder Dr. Aris Alip, Insurance Commission Division Manager Atty. Juan Paolo Roxas, and MicroEnsure Founder and Former CEO Richard Leftley.
“Microinsurance is such an important tool for low-income families in emerging markets and developing countries like the Philippines, where almost 24% of the population are engaged in agriculture,” said Chan.
From 2010 to 2019, agricultural damage amounted to P290 billion. Typhoons in 2020 alone have wiped out P14.25 billion worth of agricultural goods.
“By making insurance products more affordable and accessible, you bring value not only to your customers but also to the profitability of your business.”
During the discussion, Chan also stressed the importance of public-private partnership in making social development more inclusive through microinsurance.
Early this year, state-run Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. and CARD Pioneer entered a risk-sharing program that would benefit the agriculture sector by insulating them from risks such as flood, typhoon, drought, plant diseases, pest infestation, among others.
“This public and private partnership in agri insurance is the first in the Philippine market. Strong collaboration between the two sectors is important in sustainably providing effective and affordable insurance products to all farmers across the world and ultimately help them manage the risks they face,” Chan told microinsurance providers across the globe.
Microinsurance Master is a unique leadership programme intended to inspire and strengthen those who are involved with or wish to enter microinsurance with transformative insights, frameworks, and tools.
The program is initiated by Bert Opdebeeck who works closely with various champions from the microinsurance sector.
