People will only be prepared to pay money for an intangible product like insurance when they have sufficient trust in it, health insurance firm M-Tiba has said.

The firm’s managing director Pieter Prickaerts says not many people wake up in the morning thinking ‘let me feel good and buy an insurance cover’.

“As such, the insurance industry needs to make sure that people can relate and see the value of being insured. This starts with simplicity and reliability," Prickaerts says.

"The more people get insured, the better we are protected and able to afford the healthcare we need.”

He adds that in recent past, health covers have not been transparent, creating room for misunderstanding or worse, fraud, a vice that has been associated with loss of billions.

A report by the Rural Private Hospitals Association shows Kenya loses close to Sh33 billion every year to insurance fraud in the medical segment alone.

This is on the back of weak systems and collusion between hospitals and clients to falsify claims.

The Star spoke to Pieter Prickaerts, M-Tiba’s managing director, to highlight the importance of building trust in boosting health insurance penetration, and cutting down on fraud levels.

How is the company addressing trust issues in relation to impact on business?

At M-Tiba, we address trust aspects in two major ways. First, we make sure that transparency and trust are at the foundation of our product design. For example, as an M-Tiba customer, you get notifications every time your health cover is being used.

We have seen that this simple concept already improves trust significantly. In the past, health covers were not transparent, creating room for misunderstanding or worse, fraud.

Secondly, we adhere to the highest global standards when it comes to secure handling of personal and medical information. M-Tiba is externally certified and we conduct regular audits to ensure compliance with Kenya's Data Protection Act and the internationally recognized General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), which we embraced as core guiding principles from the onset.

What is the firm betting on in building trust with consumers?

Since inception in 2016, M-Tiba has been making access to healthcare simple and affordable. Using the mobile phone, our clients have real-time insights in their healthcare benefits.

We apply everyday mobile money principles to healthcare administration, which makes us trusted and intuitive by design.

Our overall strategy is to be user-focused and to excel in customer experience. Healthcare is something that touches us all at our most vulnerable moments, so it must be done right. We aim to make sure that the financing part of healthcare is not something you need to worry about.

What are your customer retention strategies and future target numbers?

M-Tiba brings a range of healthcare financing solutions to clients. We do that through the use of technology, which makes the administration of healthcare efficient and seamless.

As a result, our partners can develop much more affordable health insurance covers when using our product. As such, M-Tiba allows you to take care of your health in an affordable way, especially with the current high cost of living.

Nevertheless, because M-Tiba is accessed via the mobile phone, we can talk and listen to our customers on a daily basis. With such, we continuously aim to improve what we do for our clients, which has resulted in a very loyal client base.

We presently serve 4.7 million Kenyans and we are connected to over 4,500 healthcare providers across Kenya. Looking ahead, we would like to offer health protection to 10 million Kenyans in the coming years.

Apart from trust concerns, what other challenges does the firm, and other health insurers face in the country today?

Low health insurance penetration, which leaves a significant part of the population without financial protection, hindering access to essential healthcare.

This is in combination with rising costs which makes sure peoples' access to healthcare too little and too late, which affects overall health outcomes.

You recently attained the ISO certification, what does it mean for the business and what are the embedded benefits?

The ISO certification demonstrates our commitment to high-quality services, building trust with clients as a reputable and reliable organisation.

It shows that we scored high in all areas including consistency in processes, risk management, improved efficiency, data security and accountability which will enable us better serve our stakeholders.

This certification will enhance trust and reputation in our organisation. I am confident it will further improve service quality and strengthen data security.

It commits us to continuous improvement thereby serving our customers even better and delivering more value.

What is the future of health insurance in the country like?

Health insurance has become more affordable over the years, which has lead to an increase of M-Tiba users for instance. However, one bad thing is that typical insurance products are still too complex to win the trust of the average consumer.

Going into the future, insurers need to stay committed to working with other partners to make health covers even simpler, so that it relates to many more people.

In the next few months, Kenyans can expect even more innovative healthcare protection solutions that are within reach and easy to buy and access.

As M-Tiba for instance, together with our partners, we are continuously launching new products informed by the changing customer needs.