Philam working on insurance for the masses payable by mobile

Insurance for the masses with premiums payable using mobile phones is in the works at the Philam Group, the insurer revealed Tuesday.   Philam president and CEO Rex Mendoza said the corporate vehicle for their microinsurance products would be Philamllife Equitable Life Assurance Corp. (PELAC).   "We're not going to be a prosperous nation if only five to ten percent of the nation is insured," Mendoza said.   PELAC is a business unit Philam acquired from BDO in 2011 when it bought 5 percent of BDO and which it kept despite receipt of offers to buy it as soon as it was acquired.   Mendoza said they would use "a very, very different business model" so that the masses might be insured even if the company earns only P200 a day.   "The challenge is financial literacy... Dapat paalis pa lang ang OFW may plano na," Mendoza said.   "The literacy program is a must," he stressed.  —VS, GMA News