UBX, Etiqa partner to introduce ‘insure now, pay later’ scheme

UBX, the leading open finance platform in the Philippines, and Etiqa Philippines, a regional brand offering life, health and non-life insurance under one brand, have entered into a strategic partnership to introduce “Insure now, Pay later” scheme in the Philippines.

Under the partnership, Etiqa will leverage UBX’s verticals BUx, an end-to-end payment solutions platform, and Splix, a transact-now-pay-later platform, to offer Etiqa policyholders flexible and convenient ways to settle their premiums.

With the partnership, policyholders can now pay their premiums on an installment basis – with or without credit cards. Leveraging the 60,000 payment channels of BUx, Etiqa enables its customers to pay their premiums via online banking, e-wallets, or over-the-counter.

“One of the many realities that was spotlighted by the pandemic was that insurance should be brought closer to the average Filipino. Our collaboration with Etiqa allows us to do this by providing Filipinos with flexible options for their life and non-life insurance needs. Since day one, our goal has always been to include everyone and to introduce an ‘insure now, pay later’ solution that allows us to be a step closer towards that vision,” UBX President John Januszczak said.

Rico T. Bautista, Etiqa Philippines President and CEO shared that this partnership showcases Etiqa’s commitment to be a leading advocate of insuretech in the Philippines. “We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with UBX in empowering more Filipinos to achieve financial security through digital solutions and technology. This partnership is very much aligned with our mission to make the Philippines a better place.”

As the Philippines’ leading all-in-one payment solutions platform operated by UBX, BUx unifies into one solution everything from payment channels to card payments, bank transfers, over-the-counter payments, to e-wallets. With BUx, users can also track paid and pending payments, download payment summaries, and receive real-time notifications of funds credited through its best-in-class dashboard.

Splix, on the other hand, is the transact-now-pay-later platform of UBX. Splix empowers its clients to offer flexible payment options to their customers.

Etiqa is one of the leading insurance providers in the country, providing a wide variety of life and non-life insurance products that cater to the various protection, savings and investment needs of all segments in the Philippines.

“With the wide reach of Etiqa now coupled with the digital solutions of UBX, we are breaking ground in the insurance industry by paving the way for more insurance companies to follow suit. Ultimately, we hope to break the trend of inaccessibility of insurance in the Philippines,” Januszczak said.

While payment and collections are the primary thrust of this partnership, the collaboration allows Etiqa customers to defer their insurance payments and break them into smaller sums.

By providing a less intimidating payment plan, the insure now, pay later scheme addresses the general problem of inaccessibility and the misconception that insurance is an unnecessary expense.

“Our mission of financial inclusivity does not stop at digitalizing financial transactions for banks and merchants. We want to improve the quality of life of Filipinos as well, which is why we want to break ground in the insurance industry by providing digital solutions that bring insurance closer to the average Filipino,” Januszczak said.