WhatsApp to help users buy ‘sachet-sized’ health insurance

The Facebook-owned company noted that its 'Payments' feature is now available to users across the country (currently up to 20 million users) with support from banking partners - State Bank of India, HDFC, ICICI and Axis Bank.

New Delhi: WhatsApp on Wednesday said it expects to facilitate the purchase of “affordable sachet-sized” health insurance through its platform by the end of the year as part of its efforts to provide users in India with greater access to financial solutions.

The Facebook-owned company noted that its ‘Payments’ feature is now available to users across the country (currently up to 20 million users) with support from banking partners – State Bank of India, HDFC, ICICI, and Axis Bank.

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WhatsApp in India has over 400 million active users. This is its largest market.

WhatsApp India Head Abhijit Bose said at the Facebook Fuel for India 2020 event had said that WhatsApp wants to help digitise and scale the small business ecosystem of India, make it easier for consumers to connect with and buy from their favourite businesses, and build digital payments across all segments, especially for underserved users in India.

“WhatsApp has been working on several pilots to help ensure that every adult has access to financial and livelihood services through their mobile device. By the end of this year, we expect that people will be able to buy affordable sachet sized health insurance through WhatsApp,” Bose said.

These pilots, along with others in sectors like edu-tech and agri-tech, would help support the government’s focus on a more digitised economy, especially for rural and underserved segments.

In a statement, WhatsApp said by the end of this year, buying affordable health insurance coverage from SBI General leveraging WhatsApp, will be a reality.

Similarly, with HDFC Pensions and pinBox solutions, WhatsApp will be leveraged to help enable savings for retirement that will be especially beneficial for people who do not have organised employment benefits or a retirement corpus to fall back on.