Driving the innovation space in ensuring peace of mind and convenience to its customers, MTC yesterday unveiled MTC Credit Life, which is a new insurance product to provide credit life cover to MTC post-paid customers.
The MTC Credit Life is an insurance cover for postpaid contracts, which pays off the remainder of the contract in the event the customer dies. The cover settles the contract balance for the remainder period of the contract. “Credit Life Insurance is a policy that is designed to pay off a borrower’s outstanding debts in the event of the borrower’s death. As the loan balance is paid off over time, the credit life insurance policy’s value drops proportionately with it, until both approach zero,” explained MTC Managing Director Licky Erastus.
The applicant will be covered under this policy upon acceptance or renewal of a post-paid contract package, which includes a mobile device, airtime consumption, and bundled data services given by MTC. The credit life is underwritten by Momentum Metropolitan Namibia.
The credit life insurance benefit will be paid to the credit provider upon the death of a life insured who enjoys cover in terms of this policy. The benefits are paid when the insurer receives satisfactory documentary evidence the life assured has passed on. The cover will be offered at MTC Mobile Homes countrywide and customers who would like to opt into the MTC credit life insurance cover will need to make a once-off payment – which is calculated based on contract duration as well as the cost of the contract device cost.
For example, if a customer has an outstanding contract term of 18 months, with a device value of N$4000, the once-off payment required to initiate the cover would be N$39. The once-off payment will thus differ from customer to customer, based on the customer’s contract terms. The credit life cover is applicable to existing, new, and renewed contracts. The benefit is paid through a claims process as soon as satisfactory documentary evidence is provided, proving that the customer has died. The cover will automatically terminate as soon as the postpaid contract duration ends or in the event of a contract being suspended due to non-payment. Further terms and conditions are listed within the MTC credit life terms and conditions available on the company’s website.
Explaining the rationale behind the move, Erastus, highlighted that MTC is continuously striving for excellence as a national asset. This requires MTC to look beyond its traditional scope as a Mobile Network Operator (MNO) and transition to a leading digital service solutions provider (DSSP) with innovation at its core.
“Innovations should not only imply or be limited to the manufacturing capital and technology but must cut across all service points. To innovate means that ideas must be aligned to researched ideas that can contribute to a sustainable business – and we believe that this is one form of such,” expressed Erastus.
Erastus added that the benefits of the MTC Credit Life Insurance offering are that “in the first instance, it will provide peace of mind for family, by reducing worry and stress, ultimately the primary objective is to protect your family from being stuck with unpaid loan payments in the case of your death. This is
especially critical to safeguard them, protect them, and shield them from unpaid debts”. Commenting on the strategic partnership, Group Chief Executive Officer of Momentum Metropolitan Namibia, Sakaria Nghikembua, stated that the group’s objective is to ensure financial inclusion for every Namibian, adding that the partnership with MTC provides the opportunity to do so. “We are
particularly pleased to be able to partner with a reputable company such as MTC to deliver financial services to the broader Namibian population, and thereby achieving the twin objectives of financial inclusion and economic growth for Namibians,” Nghikembua added.