Singtel announced its first foray into the insurance market on Thursday, introducing Singapore’s first prepaid data plan and Dash mobile remittance service that comes with personal insurance cover.
Singapore’s dominant telco provider will be offering customers of its prepaid data plan and users of Dash mobile remittance service insurance cover that is provided by NTUC Income (Income), with premiums paid for by Singtel.
As many of our prepaid and Dash mobile remittance customers are the sole breadwinners in their families, income stability and protection from financial loss are among their topmost concerns. By working with Income to remove price barriers and simplify the sign-up process, we want to make insurance accessible for all, enabling our customers to protect their loved ones, by simply topping up their data or remitting money back home, said Yuen Kuan Moon, CEO of Consumer Singapore at Singtel in a media statement.
Prepaid customers who purchase a 30-day 50MB Protect data plan worth S$2 or do a S$20 prepaid top-up will be entitled to an insurance policy that provides coverage for 30 days. The coverage provides a range of benefits, including lump-sum payouts in the event of loss of employment due to hospitalization, as well as permanent disability and accidental death.
The plan also offers daily cash benefits for each day of hospitalization and a one-off get-well benefit, together with mobile data to ensure that the beneficiary can stay connected with his or her loved ones, according to Singtel’s web page. Dash customers who remit at least S$100 will qualify for Free 30-Day Dash Protect, an insurance policy that offers lump-sum payouts in the event of permanent disability and accidental death – a first in the remittance market.
Currently, the Singapore telco company provides mobile connectivity to more than 60 percent of foreign workers in Singapore, including S Pass workers (mid-level skilled staff), foreign domestic workers and migrant workers which number about 1.171 million in Singapore. Dash mobile remittance volumes have been growing steadily, doubling in the quarter ended June 2019 from a year ago.