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Pioneer Life

About the Project
Project Name: 
OFW Family Savers and Wellness Club
Type of Facility Project: 
Innovation Grant
Pays d’opération: 
Philippines
Région: 
Asia and the Pacific
Project Thematic Focus: 
Insitutional models and business processes
Product: 
Life - endowment
Type of Risk Carrier: 
regulated insurance company
Type of Distribution Channel: 
Faith-based organizations
Project Description: 

 

 

The project combines financial and risk management education with a product that bundles savings with life and accident microinsurance. The program and products will be offered through Wellness Clubs set up in schools and churches. The built-in savings, through small “bite sized” amounts, and insurance cover, combined with education on savings and insurance, is a non-intimidating approach to create a culture of informed risk management and awareness of the benefits of savings and insurance.

The clubs will be initiated by the church in every diocese of target provinces; a network of school coordinators and parish leaders will form the community of financial wellness facilitators that will support the implementation of the program.  Facilitators will also help impart the key learning of the modules and increase club membership on a wider scale and at a faster rate.

Click here to view the Product Description of Pioneer Life.

Consortium Members: 

Beneficiaries: 

The project targets families of migrant workers – children and adult dependents – who are part of a migrants´ association at churches and schools in selected provinces within Luzon and Metro Manila. Through financial literacy sessions, the project shall educate 250,000 migrant families, with an average monthly income of $350 and provide access to microinsurance and savings products.

Lessons from the Project
Learning Agenda: 
  • Among the proposed program benefits, what is the most appealing feature that convinces customers to join the Clubs?
  • What is the impact of financial literacy training on the behaviour/attitude of the target beneficiaries towards insurance and savings?
  • How efficient is the church as a delivery channel to reach the target group?
  • How valuable is the insurance benefit? Which feature of the microinsurance product is the most important to policyholders?
  • How valuable is the benefit of the savings product to the target group? What drives them to save more?
Emerging Lessons: 
  • Understanding the inner workings of the distribution channel’s structure and dynamics is critical for leveraging the support of the system to gain the trust of the market and increase take-up.  
  • The distribution channel must commit sufficient human resources to support the dissemination of information and the receipt of requests in order to complement the insurer’s efforts.
  • The trainer’s trainings conducted in 3 dioceses seem to bring in positive results but with challenges.
  • Based on the results of surveys conducted by Pioneer during its product launches in 6 dioceses, it appears that families for overseas Filipino workers are more inclined to purchase products that would give clients returns in the short or medium term.
  • In addition, there was a preference for single-pay endowment products in small denominations compared to those with longer paying period and maturity.
  • The lack of ability to pay is often given by the attendees for not joining the clubs. 
  • Students were the largest segment of attendees to the grand launches while adults were the largest segment for the mini-launches. 
  • Incentives and bonuses are critical to encourage Migrant Desk coordinators, who are church volunteers, to promote membership and top-ups. 
  • Adding more benefits and services, and doing more activities are ways to improve saturation rate.  The campaign to encourage club members to top up their savings was launched this period.
  • Club members still preferred the traditional transaction of paying over the counter as opposed to mobile money in the form of G-cash or Globe cash payment system.
  • Tie-up with mobile load hub is also being explored to help increase the top-up frequency of the members.
  • New activities have to be introduced every now and then so as not to “tire” the attendees of launches with predictable activities.
  • Curiosity remains to be the main reason attendees participate in launches.
About the Organization
Relationship with the Facility: 
Innovation grantee
Country of Head Office: 
Philippines
Region : 
Asia and the Pacific
Type of institution : 
Insurance industry
Participation in Microinsurance: 
Risk carrier
Organizational Overview: 

Pioneer Life Inc. is a leading life insurance company in the Philippines. A member of the Pioneer Group, which has been in operation for more than fifty years, Pioneer Life´s core business is to provide its clients with suitable financial options to secure what matters most to them. Pioneer makes itself relevant to its customers by identifying their particular needs and providing products/services and distribution channels suited to their unique requirements.

More about the Organization