Singapore: NTUC Income launches first subscription-based insurance

| 03 Aug 2021

NTUC Income (Income) has announced the launch of TRIBE, a product that offers insurance in customisable subscription packs with no lock-in periods.

At launch, TRIBE offers three modular insurance packs – Essentials Pack, Child Pack and Recovery Pack – and customers can subscribe to and customise their chosen pack based on their needs and desired insurance premiums.

Via a user-friendly digital interface, customers can upsize and downsize their insurance coverage flexibly within each pack, as well as by mixing and matching insurance plans across packs to find a combination that is just right for them. This offers a new way for customers to manage their insurance commitments on their own terms so that they fit changing lifestyles and financial circumstances.

“Access to insurance and its affordability must be made available so that people can stay protected,” said Income chief digital officer Peter Tay. “Increasingly, we are seeing a shift to a low-touch economy, which is currently being fanned by the pandemic situation globally as people are changing how they interact with one another and with businesses.”

“Cashflow constraints against the backdrop of a volatile economy is also heightening customers’ desire for greater control over what, when and how they purchase insurance, as well as the ability to customise and consolidate their purchases at a desired price point. TRIBE is, thus, our innovative response to such a call for on-demand adaptability.”

He pointed to how subscription businesses globally have grown five to eight times faster than traditional businesses as technology has enabled customers to get access to what they want immediately and with greater personalisation.

In Southeast Asia, digital financial services are taking off with the market size of digital insurance projected to be at $7.6bn by 2025, he added.

The main highlights of TRIBE include:

  • Flexibility – The Essentials Pack, Child Pack, and Recovery Pack are available in small, medium and large sizes. Customers can upsize or downsize insurance plans within a pack as needed and are also allowed to start or stop their insurance coverage as required to fit changing lifestyles with no lock-in periods, annual contracts or penalties for cancellation.
  • Adaptability – Customers can subscribe to an insurance pack starting from S$5 ($3.69) per pack monthly. To enjoy higher insurance protection, customers can opt to pay premiums at $10, $20 or $40 should their budgets permit. Customers can also adjust insurance plan sizes within each pack or across packs, to build a more relevant insurance portfolio based on their preferred budget.
  • Convenience – The subscription process for TRIBE is simple and convenient. Consumers can self-serve and sign up for a pack on the TRIBE website and be insured in 5-10 minutes. They also have full control to change their insurance premiums and coverage anytime, by toggling between options on the TRIBE website.

“While TRIBE’s insurance packs are designed with specific personas in mind, such as gig economy workers, first jobbers and parents, the subscription offering is fundamentally built on offering customers choice and anyone can resonate with gaining more control over how they engage with and purchase insurance as they plug their protection gaps,” said Mr Tay.