ELECTRONIC WALLET operator GCash is planning to launch Shari’ah-compliant and crop insurance products in the coming months through its in-app marketplace GInsure.
“We pretty soon will be having a Shari’ah-compliant insurance product for our Muslim brothers and sisters. That one, we’re in talks with an insurance company already. We are also in talks with an insurance company entity as well who does crop insurance for our farmers,” GCash Senior Manager, Partnerships and Business Development Head Joseph Nino Young told reporters on the sidelines of the BusinessWorld Economic Forum 2025 held on Thursday.
Mr. Young said GCash aims to launch the takaful insurance product in the third quarter, while the crop insurance product could be released late in the fourth quarter.
The takaful product has already been approved by the Insurance Commission (IC) and is ready to be sold, he added.
GCash hopes to launch takaful insurance products through two of its partner insurers, the official said, which are currently the only two companies in the country that have takaful windows. Pru Life Insurance Corp. of UK Philippines (Pru Life UK) and Etiqa Life & General Assurance Philippines, Inc. received their takaful window operator licenses from the IC last year.
“The good thing about that though is that we’re already partners with Pru Life UK and we are also partners with Etiqa. So, hopefully [it will be released] through both,” Mr. Young said.
“The Pru Life product covers death due to accident and natural death. I think the Etiqa one is more on the personal accident side,” he added.
GCash is also looking to reposition some of its existing insurance products to cater to specific markets, Mr. Young said, such as products particularly designed for women, the underserved, or individuals living below the poverty line.
Life-to-date, GInsure has insured 20 million people as of the first quarter via 55 million policies, he said.
Out of 90 million GCash users, Mr. Young said 60 million are eligible to buy insurance. — Aaron Michael C. Sy