Original text here from Patrice Bernard (LinkedIn)
This innovation, which originated in 2020 but I only discovered today through a Qorus award, is Snack's transparent micro-insurance solution, tailored for Singaporeans who are generally reluctant to directly purchase insurance coverage.
Developed by Income, a fairly traditional company established in 1970 as a cooperative (a model it abandoned in 2022), this initiative aims to better serve a segment of the population, typically young, digitally savvy, and largely unaware of the benefits of proper insurance coverage. This lack of awareness might be due to indifference, or simply a reluctance to take the time to inform themselves and complete the necessary formalities.
To engage these voluntary outsiders and at least get them started, Snack employs a playful and (almost) invisible approach to insurance. Similar to numerous automatic saving apps, Snack allows users to contribute small amounts of money – from as little as $0.30 to $1, depending on the context – during daily activities, inadvertently building up premiums that accumulate on various selectable products, gradually increasing the associated coverage level.
Snack offers a range of insurance categories, allowing clients to choose those that best match their concerns and habits: originally starting with death, critical illness, and accident coverages, it has since expanded to include home, pet, travel insurance, and even an investment option, somewhat designed to introduce a savings logic after addressing the protection aspect.
To fund these policies, users have several options. The least intrusive involves connecting a payment card, which triggers rewards (via a cashback program) for spending at partner merchants, with these rewards allocated to insurance. Those committed to maintaining their health can also earn additional bonuses based on their physical activity and lifestyle.
More proactive users ready to actively contribute to their coverage can deliberately transfer between $0.30 and $10 (from their own account) for everyday activities like using public transport, grocery shopping, dining out, or entertainment. This just requires selecting the preferred category, setting the amount, and choosing the products to fund, and the premiums are collected without any further intervention.
Since insurance is based on future scenarios, which are inherently difficult for human intelligence to grasp, making it understandable and marketable to consumers is extremely challenging. In this context, Income's approach with Snack (in small bites) is as much about providing basic equipment, however rudimentary, as it is about elementary education, considering the absence of this field in traditional educational curriculums.
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