MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Trustco Plans to Expand Its "Free" Life Insurance Coverage to Microfinance Customers in Zimbabwe

Trustco Group Holdings, a Namibia-based company that specializes in microfinance and microinsurance services, will offer mobile phone users in Zimbabwe free life insurance coverage each time they purchase airtime for phones from a mobile operator under the Trustco Mobile name. Econet Wireless, a mobile network operator in Zimbabwe with 4.5 million customers as of 2009, has partnered with Trustco to offer its customers life coverage that will be 100 times the value of the amount of airtime purchased, up to a maximum USD 10,000 and valid for a period of 30 days.

Trustco Managing Director Quinton van Rooyen explained that, “The Trustco Mobile concept works through a cellular company’s network. When a subscriber loads airtime onto their cellphones they get an SMS [short message service, also known as text message] notification to inform them that they qualify for a certain amount of life insurance. They can then opt to take the insurance cover and register via the cellphone or ignore it.”

Econet will pay Trustco USD 1 per month for each subscriber as a license fee for offering the “Trustco Mobile” product. No paper contracts would be signed with Trustco; paperwork need only be completed in the event that a covered person dies and a claim is to be submitted by the selected beneficiary.

First Mutual Life Assurance, an insurance company based in Zimbabwe, will underwrite the life cover.

Trustco offers a similar product in partnership with mobile network operator Powercom in Namibia. Since its introduction in March 2008, 250,000 users have subscribed to the offering.

About Trustco Group Holdings:

Trustco Group Holdings is a Namibia-based company that specializes in microfinance, microinsurance and financial education. The company operates through several subsidiaries, including Trustco Media, Trustco Capital, Legal Shield Holdings and Trustco Education. In February 2009 Trustco entered the new Africa Board of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) Limited. As of March 2010 Trustco reported total assets of USD 137 million.

Trustco does not report to the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX).

By Matthew Fox, Research Assistant

Sources and Additional Resources

Creamer Media’s Engineering News Online: Trustco Teams Up with Africa Mobile Operators for Life Insurrance Offering, 21 September 2010: http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/trustco-teams-up-with-africa-mobile-operators-for-life-insurance-offering-2010-09-21

MicroCapital Universe: Trustco Group Holdings: https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Trustco+Group+Holdings

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