Malaysia’s insurtech start-up Ouch! has formally entered the Islamic insurance market as the first digital Takaful operator in Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM)’s regulatory sandbox with its first Takaful product.
The product, Pusara Pro, is a simple term life product providing participants with a death benefit of up to RM500,000 (US$107,857) and an additional compassionate benefit of 10% of the total sum assured. It offers a 24-hour compassionate benefit claims payout, said to be the first in Malaysia across both conventional and Islamic markets.
“As an insurtech platform looking to shake up the insurance or Takaful space, we are determined to eliminate one of the industry’s greatest hurdles: the claims experience and processing times. The swift 24-hour turnaround for compassionate claims is our commitment to our participants so that we can help provide crucial financial support for families during the incredibly challenging, immediate aftermath of losing a loved one,” shares Shazy Noorazman, CEO.
According to the start-up, it has been able to lower the contribution rate by about 20% than the market average by eliminating middleman costs and utilizing technology.
Fully digital, Pusara Pro can be directly purchased through the Ouch! mobile app. The app allows participants to manage their policy as well as serve as an educational tool, with lifestyle reward features, a coverage calculator and a referral program.
The unveiling of the new product follows Ouch! concluding a six-figure pre-series A funding round earlier in January. At that time, the start-up had planned to launch its first product in the first quarter of 2023.
Founded in September 2019, Ouch! initially offered both conventional and Islamic solutions in partnership with AXA Affin Life and Etiqa Takaful. It had, however, decided to focus solely on the Islamic insurance space and appointed the former CEO of Zurich Takaful Malaysia, Mukesh Dhawan, to advise it on its transition.
Ouch! is eyeing for a Digital Insurers and Takaful Operator (DITO) license, which the central bank is expected to open applications for at the end of this year. BNM is looking to issue up to five DITO licenses.
Ouch! is one of seven companies currently in BNM’s regulatory sandbox.