Indonesian payments firm Ovo and Prudential launch digital life insurance product

Indonesian digital payments major Ovo and insurance provider Prudential Indonesia today jointly launched a sharia-compliant digital life insurance product that’s available on the Ovo app.

Ovo CEO Jason Thompson / Photo credit: Tech in Asia

Called “PRUTect Care – Hospital Cash,” the product will be provided by Prudential Indonesia through insurance broker Salvus Inti, according to a statement.

The service is designed to offer an affordable and customizable life insurance product, with contributions payable either monthly or yearly starting from around 5,000 rupiah (US$0.34) per month. It includes benefits such as daily hospital cash, a permanent disability benefit, and death benefits due to infectious diseases, among others.

Indonesia remains a significantly underinsured market – insurance penetration in the country was less than 4% as of 2020, according to the country’s Financial Services Authority. Citing its own survey, Ovo found that the perception of the insurance process as difficult and time-consuming influenced the lack of insurance coverage in several Indonesian cities.

“By combining Ovo’s strong digital reach and capabilities together with Prudential Indonesia’s expertise in insurance, we can make sharia life insurance affordable and easily accessible for Indonesians all over the country,” said Ovo CEO Jason Thompson.

The new product’s launch comes after Prudential Indonesia established a long-term partnership with Ovo in 2019 to help extend its offerings to Ovo’s users. The two companies also collaborated last year to provide premium-free accident and Covid-19 life insurance.