The Nippon Life group looks to enter the microfinance business, which is estimated to have a global market topping $90 billion. But microinsurance is a domain that contains potential pitfalls that Nippon Life must navigate.
Nippon Life will offer life insurance policies that grant payouts of roughly $1,300 on monthly premiums of about 38 cents. The provider will mainly target employees at companies that do business with multinationals.
To extend the reach of the business, customers will be able to bypass background checks to be eligible. Nippon Life sees demand among local companies that seek to broaden employee benefits from a social responsibility standpoint.
Major local banks, including affiliates at Japanese banks, have found success in the microfinance sector. Such operations generate annual yields of 10-20%. But there is no proven business model for microinsurance. Many parts of the emerging world have not developed health insurance infrastructure. When it comes to low-income customers, providers are exposed to substantial insurance payouts due to the unstable quality of life.
Nippon Life looks to reap stable earnings by selling policies to workers through their employers. The company will tap the know-how accumulated from domestic workplace sales.
Global rivals such as Germany's Allianz have taken the lead in this field. But policies targeting low-income clients are normally marketed directly to individuals, and the business has yet to take off. Nippon Life is entering Asian microinsurance in part to shore up its overseas business by developing a new business groupwide. The company has twice injected capital into Australian life insurance affiliate MLC since the unit encountered financial trouble last year.
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