New Delhi, May 13: Bharti Airtel and HDFC Life Insurance have joined hands to leverage technology and the deep penetration of mobile services to build a financially secure India, a statement said here on Monday. Airtel has launched a prepaid bundle that will come with in-built life insurance cover (term plan) from HDFC Life Insurance.

As per the IRDAI, the insurance penetration in India is less than 4% (of the population) while smart phones will account for 38 per cent of all networked devices by 2022, that is, 829 million, compared to 26 per cent in 2017, that is, 404.1 million. The Airtel – HDFC Life partnership leverages their respective digital platforms and Airtel’s distribution reach, including a phygital experience in rural pockets, to make it very simple for millions of uninsured and underinsured Indians with a mobile phone to get a life cover every time they recharge their mobile phones.

“A telco is well positioned to provide the digital backbone to drive innovation and create value for consumers. This is first among many powerful use cases that leverages the power of a telco to build a digitally enabled and financially inclusive India. Insurance adoption is abysmally low in India, including in urban areas. Price, access and convenience of payments are barriers to adoption. With this innovation, Airtel is removing those barriers for providing basic insurance to a very large set of India’s population and making the process extremely simple – just recharge your phone and you are insured,” said Adarsh Nair, Chief Product Officer, Bharti Airtel.

Suresh Badami, Executive Director – HDFC Life, said: “At HDFC Life, we are constantly looking at creating eco-systems that enable us to improve our reach of insurance products. Two of India’s customer-centric brands have come together to offer this innovative product.”