Here's an insurance application that is making smart use of cheap technology to get cover to farmers in Kenya. Twelve thousand farmers have already used the application to buy cover for seeds and fertilizer at risk of loss due to excessive rain.UAP Insurance plans to grow the market to 50,000 farmers this year, and to offer more insurance options.
Local agents use their camera phones to scan a bar code when they sell a policy. Policy confirmation is then sent to the farmer's mobile phone by text message. The company uses a network of 30 weather stations to determine payouts. These stations have been fitted with solar-powered transmitters, so the weather reporting function is fully automated. Finally, claims are paid using the M-PESA mobile money transfer service offered by telecom operator Safaricom – it's already a popular means of transferring money in Kenya. This is an initiative that really deserves the label “innovative”. Micro-insurance
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