Mukuru, a Financial Services Platform in Southern Africa has launched a loyalty-based Funeral Benefit, available to all customers in South Africa for a calendar month at no extra charge. Given the high costs associated with burials, Mukuru developed the new Funeral Benefit to meet one of their customers’ greatest needs. To qualify for the zero cost funeral benefit, users must send one international money transfer of R700 or more. Cover will be available for each calendar month following a remittance of R700 (or more).
One of the largest money transfer operators on the continent and a leading next-generation financial services platform, Mukuru understands how having a funeral plan can help a family when they need it most. Acknowledging that times are tough and that a loss only makes things tougher, Mukuru wanted to remove the added burden of paying for a funeral by offering a loyalty benefit each month upon remittance at no cost to their loyal customers.
“We conducted third-party qualitative research and found that funeral cover is one of the top products identified by our customers,” says Mike Cook, head of wallet and VAS at Mukuru. Customers who responded to the research indicated that funeral costs were a major concern for them. “Funeral cover ensures that the responsibility of paying for funeral expenses does not rest on the shoulders of family members who may not have the financial means to provide for a funeral proceeding.”
The loyalty benefit is worth up to R15 000 in the event of a death, depending on the circumstances surrounding the death.
Empowering customers with the loyalty funeral cover
Accessing the monthly funeral benefit is easy. After sending one international money transfer of R700 or more, the customer must fill in the details of their chosen beneficiary. The benefit will cover the sender for the following month. So, if the sender completes a transaction over R700 on 25 October, the benefit will start on 1 November and the beneficiary will be paid out should the sender pass on in November. What makes this offering unique is that customers need not commit to paying a monthly premium as is the case with a traditional funeral policy. To maintain the cover, the sender needs to simply send R700 or more every month.
We understand that our loyal Mukuru customers prioritise taking care of their families, so we developed a loyalty product that complements a service they are already using and caters to these customers without placing added financial responsibility on them. “The idea was to remove friction and lessen the financial burden on customers as opposed to looking for ways to sell them more products. This is why the Mukuru Funeral Benefit is provided at no cost to customers who are already sending money home,” Cook explains. “At the same time, we are exposing customers to financial products they would otherwise be excluded from and, in turn, they are building a knowledge base of the products available to them and learning how these can serve their needs without leaving them out of pocket.”
The funeral benefit, underwritten by Guardrisk Life, shows how different industry players can come together to provide innovative products that address real customer needs and deliver better value for them.
“At Mukuru, it is pivotal that we place the customer at the centre of our decision-making. The days of creating a product or service first and then trying to sell that product or service to the customer are long gone. By listening to customers, we answer their needs directly, developing products and services suited to their unique circumstances,” concludes Cook.
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