The Effect of Information Technology on Growth of Micro-Insurance Business: A Survey of Commercial Insurance Companies in Kenya (Published)
The micro-insurance business has a huge potential for growth in Kenya, which is typically a micro-insurance market. However, the country’s paltry growth in overall insurance penetration from 2.54% in 2006 to 3.0% in 2010 is not attributable to emerging business areas such as micro-insurance, but to the traditional insurance product lines. Information technology can be leveraged to increase micro-insurance penetration. This study examined the influence of information technology on the growth of micro-insurance business in Kenya. A survey of commercial insurance companies was conducted to provide an understanding of the effect of information technology as a driver of micro-insurance growth. The findings revealed a high positive significant correlation between information technology and growth of micro-insurance. The implication is that sustainable growth of micro-insurance business among the low-income Kenyan population can be greatly enhanced by leveraging the benefits of information technology. Therefore micro-insurance service providers should embrace information technology systems as a strategic action in order to tap into the ripe micro-insurance client base.
Keywords: Growth, Information Technology, Micro-insurance