There are many things that the late Steve Jobs will be remembered for. For us, one of his outstanding qualities was his innate ability to explain and market a product in a way that resonated with consumers. In this article, we reveal how his genius description of the original iPod shaped the way we think about our own micro insurance products.

Sell benefits, not features.

In 2001, at a small press event at Apple’s former Infinite Loop headquarters, Jobs revealed the first-generation iPod. Holding the gadget for the audience to see, he coolly explained “This amazing little device holds 1,000 songs and it goes right in my pocket”, casually slipping it back into his own pocket.

The iPod revolutionized the music industry overnight – becoming the must-have tech device of the early 2000’s – with Jobs’ simple explanation becoming the basis of its marketing campaign: 1,000 songs in your pocket.

Instantly, people knew what the iPod was about. Now, Apple could have marketed the iPod for what it was: The world’s first portable digital media player, 5GB hard drive, superfast Firewire connection, rechargeable lithium polymer battery… but to the average consumer that’s just tech jargon. Companies have a matter of seconds to make a first impression, so messaging is crucial – a more detailed explanation can come once a customer is engaged. When getting the attention of a potential customer, one way to make a solid first impression is to tell them how a product will benefit them – how it will make their life better.

For the iPod, those five words said it all. “1,000 songs” – that was comfortably more than the typical persons’ entire music library. “In your pocket” – it was small, portable, and easily accessible. People understood and proved it in their millions – by the time Apple retired the iPod line in 2022, it was estimated that they had sold 450 million devices.

Drawing inspiration.

Much like how the iPod transformed the music industry and how people experienced music on-the-go, micro insurance is revolutionizing the insurance industry and how people think about and access insurance.

Traditionally, personal insurance policies are applied for via a comprehensive in-person or online sign-up process, with successful applicants receiving documentation containing their policy certificate and details of how to make a claim. Likewise, the claims process itself can be documentation heavy, and slow to validate and pay out. Often these policies provide coverages measured in thousands – such as for health, life, home, and vehicle – with premiums paid monthly or annually. In some ways, conventional consumer insurance can be like the portable CD players of old – cumbersome, awkward to navigate, not particularly convenient, and people carried just a few discs at a time.

Which is where micro insurance comes in, offering an alternative to regular insurance. We could, and often do, describe our brand of digital reinsurance for what it is: digital embedded micro insurance products, underwritten by certain underwriters at Lloyd’s and in-house through MIC Re, partner driven global distribution, powerful API enabled straight through processing for claims and policy management. Within the insurance industry these terms are well understood, much like the iPod’s description above within the tech industry. But as an explanation of what we do for the everyday person, it’s not necessarily as easy to grasp.

So, inspired by Jobs’ simple words, we like to characterise micro insurance in a similar manner: $1,000 in your pocket.

Hear us out… “$1,000” – coverage levels ideal for typical everyday claims. “In your pocket” – readily accessible policies applied for at the point of sale, via platform and service partner mobile apps and websites, with straightforward, lightweight sign-up processes and claims paid rapidly. Combined, this makes the “$1,000 in your pocket” relevant to the customer.

Micro insurance. The next big thing.

Expanding on this statement in more detail, MIC Global’s micro insurance programs are designed to fill the protection gap that traditional insurers have allowed to develop. Providing coverages for tens or hundreds of dollars for everyday incidents – such as broken gadgets, breaks in income, warranties, travel disruption, and loss of income driven by an event – our digital reinsurance products allow our insurance and platform partners to help their customers in their time of need.

Our embedded micro insurance products are highly accessible through partner platform mobile apps, websites, and subscriptions. We work with our partners to integrate our products into their sales process and create simple, understandable application processes to ensure that their customers can get insured quickly without causing disruption to the partner’s business – in short we add trust and we add value. When a claim arises, customers have convenient access to their coverage direct from the platform they enrolled with. Claims are sent to MIC and can be processed in hours thanks to our AI-powered software, and monetary benefits can be paid to our insurance partners to help the platform’s customers just as quickly. Put simply, this is insurance in a box for our partners.

For example, we have recently partnered with a new neo bank to support their Income Protection product. Customers apply through the bank’s app and the benefit is embedded in the client’s subscription and services. When a subscribed customer needs to make use of the benefit, the system is ready to pay* and support them in their hour of need, putting a $1,000 in to their pocket in an instant.

With simple, relevant, and affordable micro insurance products available at the touch of a button, our partners’ customers have peace of mind that when life happens, they can rely on their protection solution to ensure they have cash in their pocket to get back on track.

Contact us to see how MIC Global can help your business benefit its customers and employees with an embedded micro insurance solution, or simply send us your email address to get started.

* 80% of claims turned around within 48 hours, May–Dec 2023.

Have you ever wondered why there is a movement happening in the insurance industry towards faster claims payments and embedded micro insurance?

You’re likely to have some sort of insurance policy, whether it’s to cover your home or phone or car – usually through a traditional insurance company – and when the unexpected happens, you’re covered… right? Yes, but perhaps not as quickly as you might like!

So, what is micro insurance’s role in the industry and why can it be better than a traditional insurance policy in some situations? How does micro insurance enable your insurer to readily be there in your time of need? Let’s explore this.

A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Consider the following scenario.

David works as a plumber; no two days are the same and sometimes he’s in quite a rush to help his customers. Today is one of those days – David receives an emergency call from a customer with a flooded kitchen, nothing he can’t handle! He puts his phone into his overalls’ and drives to their house.

In his haste to get out of his van, David’s phone slips from his pocket and hits the pavement. He picks up his phone, revealing the screen is shattered… a $300 repair.

Frustrated at the inconvenience, the plumber gets back to the task at hand – that pipe won’t fix itself. He grabs his trusty tool kit from the back of his van and sets to work. The job goes well, another happy customer, and David packs up and returns to his van.

Lifting his tool kit into the van, the handle breaks off… and the box lands on his foot, crushing it from the impact. There’s only one thing for it – a trip to the Emergency Room.

This isn’t how he wanted to spend the day as disruption like this will cost him dearly – if he can’t work, he won’t get paid. Eventually David is seen by a doctor and his broken foot is set and bandaged. Before leaving he is handed a bill for $700 – just what he needs!

Feeling deflated, David makes his way home before anything else happens, worrying about how he’ll find the $1000 that the day has cost, and how he’ll handle the loss of income while he recovers. He is dreading contacting his insurance providers and dealing with different policies and covered risks, wondering if they’ll cover him, what deductibles he’ll owe… it’s a lot to get though. Is his screen covered for accidental damage? Loss of Income covered? Health covered?

David now has a lengthy insurance claims process ahead of him – added stress and time he could spend concentrating on recovery. Where is his insurer when he needs them most? How could the outcome of this story be improved?

Traditional Insurance vs Micro Insurance.

We’ve all been there – going about our day-to-day lives when something happens beyond our control, that ultimately hits our wallets.

Having read David’s misfortune, you may be thinking that if you were in his shoes, you’d be covered with insurances for personal property damages, medical costs, and business income interruption, or beyond those any of the other multitude of coverages available. But claiming and getting payment from traditional insurers is typically a slow, drawn-out process measured in weeks – if they’ll cover your incident at all! In many cases it’s quicker to pay the bill yourself than wait for a claim settlement, or preferable to facing higher premiums if it’s a small claim… leaving you out of pocket after all the costs and increases.

So, while the traditional insurance process is often encumbered by a comprehensive in-person or online sign-up application and administration-heavy claims process, there is now a new way to get cover to the right people. This is embedded micro insurance: simple insurance programs distributed via platforms that use the insurance to complement their services; coupled with efficient claims handling – accessible, tech-powered, light on documentation, and with rapid turnaround times.

This is where MIC Global comes in. We are different from traditional insurance companies. Our micro insurance coverages are purpose built for life’s daily disruptions, putting money in people’s pockets fast so they can minimise the impact of inconvenient incidents. Our insurance capacity as a Coverholder of Lloyd’s coupled with our in-house AI-powered technologies means that claims can be assessed, settled, and paid to our local insurance partners within hours – enabling our platform partners to help people to get back to their everyday lives.

Sounds great, but how does micro insurance work?

With micro insurance, customers opt-in to coverages for small one-off or recurring daily, weekly, or monthly premiums. These coverages are embedded into a company’s existing product, for example a bank account or mobile application subscription. When a trigger incident occurs, an enrolled customer raises a claim through their provider and the MIC machine starts working.

Our AI-powered low-code technology assesses the claim and automatically makes decisions based on the provided information, requesting further details and real-world assistance if required. Once the claim conditions are satisfied, payments are made to our partner to help them support their customer. This straight-through-processing means that money can be paid to local insurance partners, through to the claiming customer within a matter of hours*.

When designing our digital reinsurance products, we start with the claim and focus on the triggers. This means that we know how we are going to service claims before we start developing the policy. Our processes are all developed with the goal of quick payments and straight through processing. Our ability to underwrite our policies is what sets us apart from traditional insurtechs, who require the additional backing of a third-party underwriter. This adds time to their claim payments and, also crucially, cost. Our partners and their customers benefit from our underwriting capacity with quick claims payments and lower premiums. The result is happy end-customers, added value and increased revenues for our partners.

Micro insurance: there for you when you need it most.

Thinking back to our example of the plumber, David, with his traditional insurance coverages – his concern was not only the bills that came from his misfortunes but also his loss of income and the cumbersome claims journey. This story is not unique – millions of claims are made each year across every category imaginable, with varying levels of administrative capability ranging from paper files to spreadsheets to insurance specific software. The settlement process can take weeks, leaving people in claims limbo while they wait for their settlement.

This is why when life happens, we are there for your customers – people just like David. When you work with us and embed one of our micro insurance products, we treat your customers as if they were our own and know that service is key. We take care of your customers’ everyday disruptions with products that protect people’s identities, finances, and misfortunes. Our innovative approach is built on the foundations of tailored products, underwriting capacity, leading AI-powered technology, and round-the-clock coverage made possible by a global team. Claims are automated, and settlements can be paid to our local insurer and your company to help your customers within a matter of hours, so people can get back to their day with money in their pocket.

So next time you find yourself disrupted, ask “where is my insurer”?

Contact us to see how MIC Global can help your business benefit its customers and employees with an embedded micro insurance solution, or simply send us your email to get started.

* 80% of claims turned around within 48 hours, May–Dec 2023.