What we read at the MIC this week

In Thailand, $3 a Month Could Boost Migrant Health
Dreamlopments is developing a microinsurance product to address health needs of border migrants in Thailand, mainly from Burma (Myanmar).

Farmers' rainfall reports agree with index insurance satellite data 
A blog post from Daniel Osgood, Lead Scientist - Financial Instruments Sector Team at Columbia University IRI, on comparing data from farmers and satellites when developing index insurance.

Proportionate Regulatory Frameworks in Inclusive Insurance: Lessons from a Decade of Microinsurance Regulation In this publication, the Access to Insurance Initiative (a2ii) looks back at supervisory approaches to microinsurance since 2005, identifying key lessons and discussing current and future challenges.  

We're back! What we read at the MIC this week!

Government to Person Transfers: On-ramp to Financial Inclusion? 

• In this study, Guy Stuart, CFI Fellow and Executive Director of Microfinance Opportunities, set out to explore G2P transfers as an on-ramp to use of formal financial services and ultimately increased financial inclusion. Read the full report to learn more, but basically he found that G2P programs were not achieving this - though there exist missed opportunities. For example, the relationships with financial service providers were not maximized; a space where microinsurance could potentially fit in. See Stuart's recommendations for governments towards the end of the paper.  

Over 40 million mobile insurance clients today in region

• The Microinsurance Network and the Munich Re Foundation carried out a landscape study on mobile insurance in Asia. MNOs are becoming an increasingly popular distribution channel for microinsurance products not only in Asia, but in other regions such as Africa. The results of this study will be presented at the 12th International Microinsurance Conference coming up November 15 - 17 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.   

The uberization of insurance

• Robin Smith, CEO of WeGoLook, offers her perspectives on where she believes the insurance industry is headed. She comments on the "gig economy", mobile technology, data gathering, and more in this short but enjoyable post from Insurance Thought Leadership.

Big data for small policies

• What does big data mean for the microinsurance space? There is great potential but many challenges in obtaining data on low-income populations. Mobile datasets can be an answer, but do they provide an accurate picture and are they easily accessible? 

What we read at the MIC this week

• Key regulator workshop to drive the development of insurance markets for the poor 
• The workshop took place 5 - 7 April and was attended by supervisors from central banks, insurance commissions and private insurance companies from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Tonga and Vanuatu. "A first of its kind, the workshop is focused on encouraging and inspiring insurance regulators and supervisors to design, develop and implement policies and frameworks to permit and encourage the growth of inclusive insurance markets and the supply of more affordable insurance products that are targeted at lower income people and communities".
• Insurance company drops 'discriminatory' policy on suicide attempts
• Desjardins Group sets an example for both the traditional and microinsurance industries by dropping this discriminatory exclusion from their policy. "The only ethical course is to give people who have self-harmed the same support a person would get who is harmed by any other means. If not, I hope that companies who care for all of their employees will vote with their feet and take their business elsewhere".
• Barclays, Techstars select 10 startups for Cape Town accelerator 
• Tanzanian company and microinsurance platform Edgepoint selected as one of 10 companies chosen for the accelerator program. Edgepoint projects include bimaAFYA and bimaSHAMBA, a micro-health product and agri-expert IVR product respectively. 
• Is there a business case for microinsurance in Africa?
•  A blog post which gives an in-depth overview of Module 2 of the Expert Forum Series on Microinsurance in Africa which took place on 24 March. The 3rd and final module of this series will take place on 14 April - you can register here. 

What we read at MIC this week

• CGAP Smallholder Diaries
• These financial diaries give the reader a glimpse into the lives of smallholder families in Mozambique, Tanzania, and Pakistan.
• GSMA 2015 State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money
•  A comprehensive, quantitative report on the mobile money industry for the unbanked and underserved populations. 
• Which country has the world's best healthcare system?
• The Guardian takes a look at how patients around the world pay for healthcare and what level of care they receive typically. 
• CFI Blog post on the Best Places to be an Insurance Provider
•  An example of how to use the Microscope Benchmarking Model in the Global Microscope 2015. You can use the tool to find out which are the best countries if you're interested in providing insurance to the low-income.

Landscape Trivia: Microinsurance in Africa

What we read at MIC this week

Links to some interesting reads:

•  Tech Relief for the High Cost of Field Research
• The MicroInsurance Centre is managing this client-centered research project working with Crezcamos MFI in rural Colombia. The purpose is to see whether receiving an Ag insurance product bundled with the loan or receiving it separately after loan approval leads to take up or differences in understanding a product. Read more here.  
• Drones to assess crop loss under new insurance policy
• The New Crop Insurance Scheme (NCIS) for farmers in India is set to be approved next week by the Cabinet. This will entail drones being deployed to assess crop damage. Among other goals, this scheme will aim to keep premium rates lower than the existing program. Read more here.  
• Monitoring hazards from the sky
• The Disaster Risk and Exposure Assessment for Mitigation (DREAM) program in the Philippines, which started in 2012, is currently using laser scanners inside of airplanes to create hazard maps and a flood advisory system. This will facilitate the development of of new strategies for disaster risk management. Read more here.  

• Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena wins 2016 Pritzker prize
• “One of the biggest mistakes that architects make is that they tend to deal with problems that only interest other architects,”...“The biggest challenge is to engage with the important non-architectural issues – poverty, pollution, congestion, segregation – and apply our specific knowledge. It’s not enough to raise awareness. I want people to leave with more tools. We must share the challenges so we are aware of the coming battles.” - Aravena. Read more here. 
• Credit shield insurance - piloting microinsurance products in Bangladesh
• BRAC offers the Credit Shield Insurance as an opt-in product for its microfinance borrowers. Though making clients aware and comfortable with this product was a challenge, it was found that "investing in BRAC's human relationships was the most effective in earning clients' confidence". Read more here. 
  investing in BRAC’s human relationships was the most effective in earning clients’ confidence - See more at: http://blog.brac.net/2016/01/credit-shield-insurance-piloting-microinsurance-products-in-bangladesh/#sthash.8gakxbzU.dpuf
  investing in BRAC’s human relationships was the most effective in earning clients’ confidence - See more at: http://blog.brac.net/2016/01/credit-shield-insurance-piloting-microinsurance-products-in-bangladesh/#sthash.8gakxbzU.dpuf
  investing in BRAC’s human relationships was the most effective in earning clients’ confidence - See more at: http://blog.brac.net/2016/01/credit-shield-insurance-piloting-microinsurance-products-in-bangladesh/#sthash.8gakxbzU.dpuf
• Microinsurance is the answer to the insurance industry
•  A critique of the current system of insurance in the U.S. and a proposal of why and how it should change..."Leveraging microinsurance, fintech startups will take the lead not just in rethinking this antiquated insurance system, but also creating completely new kinds of insurance the will meet the dynamic needs of millennials". Read more here. 

What we read at MIC this week

Links to interesting reads!

• Bangladesh: Call for MFIs to be allowed to offer insurance 
• Allowing MFIs to offer microinsurance was a point discussed at a recent microinsurance seminar in Bangladesh. MFIs have already been offering health and other MI with the support of development partners.
• 2015 Global Microscope on Financial Inclusion
• Published by The Economist Intelligence Unit to analyze the inclusiveness of countries' financial sectors. 
• The mobile banking customer that isn't: drivers of digital financial services inactivity in  Côte d’Ivoire 
• "50 percent of the total number of registered DFS clients are inactive" in  Côte d’Ivoire. This report investigates the causes of inactivity and how they can be addressed. This is undoubtedly an important topic if financial inclusion is to be advanced via DFS.
• Aging and Financial Inclusion: An Opportunity
• With a rapidly aging global population, this report brings attention to older people as an important market segment for policymakers and financial service providers.  

What we read at MIC this week

Links to some interesting reads

Child, Early, and Forced Marriage Resource Guide

·      This guide is meant to be a resource and tool for development practitioners. The document begins with a practical ‘Top 12 Ways to Use…’ the manual which is helpful and efficient, with links. Finance is discussed throughout the document in terms of prevention such as financial literacy/education for young women and also in terms of implications that early marriage can have on girls’ and women’s financial lifestyles (i.e. control over household finances, access to an individual bank account, etc…).   

Financial Inclusion: Creating and inclusive world

·         This annual report touches on strides made in the financial inclusion movement, including the release of information provided by the Global Findex, and discusses plans to continue forward.  

Who saves the least money? Financial exclusion around the world – interactive

·         Check out this interactive world map to learn about financial inclusion in terms of borrowing, savings, spending, accounts, and others.  

An Introduction to System Mapping

·         Ideas for tackling tough societal problems using system mapping to better understand the various parts of a system and how they influence each other. The post includes links to types of system maps and other examples of how they can be used to creatively think about solving a problem. 

Happy #WorldToiletDay! Here’s What It’s Like to Live Without One

·         A post on NPR’s Goats and Soda blog for World Toilet Day which was November 19.  

What we read at MIC this week

Links to interesting reads:

Responsible Mobile Insurance

·         Touches on an important discussion revolving around mobile microinsurance. “The potential for mass distribution is signifi­cant but brings new risks as new players enter the mar­ket, which challenges existing regulatory principles and practices.” This article talks about mobile insurance in the context of the 3 pillars of Responsible Finance: 1) Consumer Protection Regulation, 2) Financial Institutions’ Self-regulation, and 3) Financial Capability.

East Africa on alert for El Niño deluge

·        Early-warning systems are an important piece of the risk management system. Kenya is preparing for heavier than usual rainfalls and seem to have considered various potential impacts and taken measures to prevent livestock.

Health Spending: the pause before fast-forward

·     On the evolution of health spending and its link to the economic slowdown. The rise in health spending will occur because “the underlying forces pushing up medical costs remain in place”. 

The Landscape of Microinsurance in Africa 2015 – Preliminary Briefing Note

·         This briefing note reports on some of the key insights and trends found during the regional microinsurance landscape study of Africa. The results show a comparable growth of 30% in lives covered by microinsurance since 2011. The briefing note also reports interesting results on distribution and premiums and claims.  

Regulating for Inclusive Insurance Markets in SADC: Review of regulation

·         An overview and analysis of the current state of microinsurance/inclusive insurance regulation in Southern African Development Community. It was found that more than 95% of the entire insurance market in SADC can be classified as the MI target market. So far only two countries in SADC have enacted MI-specific regulation.  

What we read at MIC this week

Links to some interesting reads!

Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) is more than just toilets

• This article touches on the important topic of sanitation. An overview of the CLTS process and discussion about two sanitation business models: Isolated Business Model and Integrated Business Model.

The Landscape of Microinsurance in Ghana 2015: Supply and Demand Side Report

• A follow up to the 2012 survey, this study looks at both the supply and demands sides of the microinsurance market in Ghana. Nearly 30% of the country’s population is covered by some type of microinsurance.

Advancing data for the development of microinsurance markets in SADC

• An overview of the steps being taken by Southern African Development Community (SADC) regarding the collection and analysis of microinsurance data in order to improve access to insurance in the region. The country profiles offer contextualized examples of how data collection and analysis is currently being done in each setting.  

Encyclical Letter

• Pope Francis recently published his first Encyclical Letter (82 page document), these are normally intended for the 1.2 billion Catholics, however he wrote this one to all people everywhere. It is intended as a reflection on what we are doing to our environment and a central theme of the document is the impact that this damage has on the poorest. “Both everyday experience and scientific research show that the gravest effects of all attacks on the environment are suffered by the poorest”.