This archive report was first published on 18 May 2020.
As Kenya's digital economy gains momentum, traditional business models are being left behind. In the insurance sector, customers are demanding more efficient and trustworthy means to obtain cover for various policies.
Two Nairobi-based innovators, Ms Bente Krogmann and Mr Chris Osore, recognized this shift and developed the mTek mobile app in late 2019. Their goal was to revolutionize customer experience and eliminate the voluminous paperwork in the insurance ecosystem, while reaching the underserved.
"Today everything is happening in a rush. With such agile live-patterns and Covid-19 living among us, we need the ability to carry on with our daily lives while still on the go," Ms Krogmann, a 32-year-old techpreneur, told the Nation in 2020.
The mTek app allows users to select insurance services from various underwriters, including ICEA Lion, GA Insurance, Mua Insurance, Mayfair, Madison, Resolution, and AAR. Users can choose from a range of policies, including motor, personal accident, domestic, medical, evacuation, fire, international and local travel, and school insurance.
Contrary to traditional insurance cover registration, which can take several days and require multiple photocopies of identity documents, registering on the mTek app takes a maximum of six minutes. Users can also handle claims processing on the app and follow up on the same.
One satisfied user, Alex Karanja, who has used the service in the past five months, praised the app's speed and efficiency. "It is less than 10mbs in size, so downloading it from Playstore is fast. I chose evacuation cover to give it a try. I filled in my details and paid Sh1,550 for the annual cover via M-Pesa on the same app. The cover was then sent to my email. I loved the speed," he said.
