Consumers may now compare insurance premium rates across companies without having to spend too much time on it with the entry of products comparison firm MoneyMax Philippines in the local market.
As an online brokerage company, MoneyMax already partnered with some of the more prominent local insurers to help consumers decide which from among the various units best fit their risk cover requirement in terms of price and other considerations.
The insurer comparison platform also looks forward to partnering with still more insurers down the line as the industry expands alongside the still expanding $272-billion Southeast Asian economy in the years to come.
“What we see is that the insurance market in the Philippines is growing very fast. We will work together with more and more insurance partners, not just large parties but also the smaller parties. We have linked up with 25 insurance providers to give them better market access, and we’re looking to grow [this network],” Jorrit Koop, managing director and cofounder of MoneyMax.Ph told reporters on Tuesday.
The comparison platform culls the various insurance policies offered by companies and allows customers to compare prices across different categories at no cost to consumers.
The service cuts down on the time and cost on the part of consumers, and for its partners, gives them an online avenue to increase market share.
Its existing partners include for now Prudential Guarantee, FPG Insurance, Standard Insurance Co. Inc., and Charter Ping An Insurance Co., to name a few.
“What we do for both customers provide more ways to access the market, through our payment gateways, and direct distribution of insurance. It will be possible for customers to instantly get insurance policy, because right now they have no direct contact with the big insurance companies,” Koop added.
MoneyMax.Ph is focused for the moment on car insurance, according to Koop. Going forward, the products comparison platform will expand its activities to such other categories as credit-card loans, broadband, housing loans, and personal loans.
As an online brokerage firm, MoneyMax.Ph earns on a commission basis when customers purchase the products from its partner-insurance providers.
According to the company head, the purchase of financial products through the platform has enjoyed triple-digit growth month-on-month.
MoneyMax.Ph’s mother company, CompareAsia Group, recently received funding of $40 million provided by Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, as well as Jardine Pacific, Route 66 Ventures and ACE & Company. The funding was distributed among CompareAsia Group’s operations across Asia.
While the start-up company is keeping mum on its share of funding for its Philippine operations, Koop said improvement of services can be expected.
“We can implement tools that increase our distribution powers. So we are talking about a new web site, contact center productivity, hiring experts to help people understand the products better,” Koop said.
Moving forward, Koop added that the outlook for growth is rosy as the firm continues to focus on the burgeoning car insurance market.
“The car market in the Philippines is huge. There are millions of cars that can be insured. Within one or two years we can capture a sizeable share of the market, and that’s just in car insurance. There are also credit cards, personal loans, medical loans,” the company executive said.
CompareAsiaGroup sites are currently operating in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
The group aims to capture as much of the estimated $52-billion marketing and customer acquisition budget of financial products providers across markets in Asia.