Friday, May 13, 2022

Equity Bank Seeks License To Roll Out Health Insurance

 



By Kepha Muiruri For Citizen Digital
Equity Group has sought a general insurance license from the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) as it seeks to roll out health insurance services.

According to the bank which recently ventured into bancassurance, the roll out of medical insurance is expected to provide momentum for the uptake of health services offered under its Equity Afia brand of clinics.

“We should be submitting our application for general insurance to roll-out health insurance before the end of June. The roll out is subsequently dependent on the grant of license,” Equity Group Managing Director Dr. James Mwangi told Citizen Digital on Thursday.

At the same time, Dr. Mwangi says the lender has received approvals to run other long term investments including pension plans.

In January this year, Equity was granted a life insurance license by the IRA establishing its first underwriting unit known as Equity Life Assurance Kenya Limited (ELAK).

The new unit was profitable through the first quarter with disclosures from the Group placing profit after tax in the first three months at Ksh.20 million.

According to the disclosures, the unit had assets of Ksh.2.2 billion at the end of March 2022 while returns on average equity (RoAE) stood at 5.2 per cent.

Dr. Mwangi says the bank has leveraged its expansive customer network to provide momentum for the growth of the underwriting unit.

“Our biggest contribution has been our customer base. We have over 17 million customers and the customers, building on their trust for Equity are looking for ELAK knowing this is an insurer they can trust and that it will pay when the risk occurs,” added Dr. Mwangi.

As of the end of March 2022, Equity Afia had 54 active facilities across the country and had cumulatively received 822,359 patient visits.

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