Home Credit & MSIG announce partnership to expand insurance offerings and financial inclusion in Southeast Asia

Home Credit B.V., an international consumer finance provider in Europe and Asia, and MSIG, one of Asia’s leading general insurance providers, on February 17 announced a tri-market strategic partnership. Their objectives include making insurance solutions simpler and more accessible for retail consumers, a fast-growing segment in Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

By collaborating in retail distribution and product development, Home Credit and MSIG are aiming to increase the current low levels of penetration in the three major Southeast Asian (SEA) markets.

Frederic Tardy, chief customer and strategy officer at Home Credit said, “Our mission is to provide access to financial services for underserved consumers, and our partnership with MSIG will reinforce our customer offering. It will also help to address the significant protection gap in insurance coverage for SEA. Home Credit’s enormous online and offline regional distribution network offers a powerful platform to deliver enhanced protection to consumers in one of the world’s fastest-growing regions.”

Clemens Philippi, COO at MSIG Asia said, “We are excited about the partnership with Home Credit, which will help to deliver simple and relevant solutions to SEA’s growing population amid a changing landscape. We want to be there for our customers as part of our mission to support development.”

MSIG’s home contents protection policies are now available to many Home Credit customers across SEA, with pilot schemes and ongoing discussions underway to broaden the offering to other forms of insurance.

Home Credit is strategically expanding penetration in SEA, based on the high levels of need it has observed among consumers.

With its significant depth of market knowledge in the area, MSIG will tailor its insurance solutions focusing on the needs of low- to middle-income consumers for each market in this region.

The agreement complements Home Credit’s collaboration with multiple retail and e-commerce partners across the region. The company underwrites an average of over half a million loans for smartphones alone per quarter in SEA, which will now be offered with optional device insurance plans.

These policies will be distributed across e-commerce sites, mobile apps, and 42,000 point-of-sale locations covering every province and city in those markets. The coverage will be marketed alongside existing protection offerings.

The partnership will also serve as a blueprint for future collaborations between the two companies as they seek to support greater financial inclusion in SEA and beyond. The financial terms of the partnership have not been disclosed.