During the Insurance Institute Malawi (IIM) Annual Lake Conference in Mangochi on Thursday titled The Future Ready Insurer, Insurers were urged to to adapt to the ever-changing landscape by adopting technology to avoid being left behind.

The advice was shared in a presentation by  former chief executive officer of Old Mutual West Africa and Old Mutual Malawi Chris Kapanga, stating that the future will require tech savvy and insurance savvy customers. He stressed that digital payments are, among others, a way to engage with the current digitally advanced market.

“If we are still issuing cheques for paying of claims, we are not future ready,” he emphasized, “There will be more demand for cashless payment [electronic] for premiums and claims. There will be more regulation, including for full disclosure of premium utilisation.

True enough, figures from the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) Second Quarter National Payment Systems Report show an increase in both volume and value of retail DFS transactions. The report shows that total volume upped by 14.5% to 72.3 million whereas the corresponding value increased by 39% to K1 billion. Should insurers take on the initiative, the move will revolutionize Malawi to decrease cash transactions.