UK-headquartered insurtech start-up YuLife officially made its debut in the South African market yesterday.
The local launch comes after expanding its services to the US in the first quarter of this year.
Founded in 2016, YuLife provides traditional group insurance – life, income protection, lump sum disability and funeral cover.
Using gamification and a wellbeing app, YuLife encourages employees or policyholders to make proactive lifestyle changes.
The app also enables employees to complete everyday wellness activities, such as walking, meditation and cycling, in order to earn YuCoin, the insurtech firm’s virtual well-being currency.
The YuCoins can be used to buy vouchers for groceries, data, fuel and clothing, it states.
“South Africa has the second-highest insurance penetration globally, making it a perfect market for YuLife to expand into and showcase its innovative approach to insurance,” says Jaco Oosthuizen, YuLife co-founder and managing director of YuLife South Africa.
“There has been a big shift toward health and wellbeing in the workplace, with more and more companies adding new initiatives and resources to their employee benefits packages. YuLife is launching in South Africa to offer companies an easy way to provide extra protection.
“We’re looking forward to providing South African businesses and employees tangible value on an everyday basis in an accessible, engaging and deliverable manner.”
According to YuLife, it covers over 600 000 group policyholders across small to large businesses, including companies such as what3words,Jaguar Land Rover, Santander, AON and CapitalOne.
For the local market, the service offering will provide members access to a virtual GP service through Kena Health, and counselling and advice through ICAS, alongside access to wellbeing apps like Meditopia and Fiit.
YuLife South Africa’s policies are underwritten by Guardrisk, a subsidiary of Momentum Metropolitan.
“We are excited to be working together with YuLife to bring cost-effective insurance solutions to customers in SA,” says Guardrisk CEO Herman Schoeman.
“As a company rooted in innovation, partnering with such a forward-thinking company like YuLife that shares our commitment to meeting customers’ needs makes good business sense.
“We look forward to developing our relationship with YuLife and providing our solutions to its customers, while also empowering them to have a more thorough and holistic relationship with their life insurance and protection provider.”
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