Financial technology insurance consultancy Askari has concluded an agreement with Hollard Mozambique Insurance to launch its digital strategy, which targets cross-border trucking fleets.

Vehicles travelling across the South Africa and Mozambique border must have third-party motor insurance and the insurance digitalisation process, completed in January this year, will help to further eliminate potential fraudulent practices while also improving the user experience for customers.

Askari CEO Gary Wild says, “before embarking of this digitalisation process the insurance processes at the border were paper-based and riddled with inefficiencies, and for many others they still are”.

He adds that, now, the wait for cash to exchange hands, and hard copies of policies to be issued, is “a thing of the past”, and everything will happen in real time.

“Maputo is a massive transit point for South African commodities such as chromium and coal. This transition to a digital distribution system represents a major technological jump forward and could not have come at a better time, especially as we expect to see an increase in border traffic as the world continues to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic,” says Wild.

The piloting of this digital strategy is the culmination of many years of strategising by both parties, Hollard and Askari. The two companies have worked closely to expand Hollard’s network across the continent, which now reaches six countries.

“Hollard Mozambique has always been aggressive in staying at the forefront of creative, client-service driven, technical insurance offerings. Having just acquired International Commercial and Engineering Insurance, Hollard is now Mozambique’s largest insurer by a significant margin, so we are delighted to be working with [it] to fulfil [its] strategy,” adds Wild.

In addition to its fintech developments, Askari is also a Financial Sector Conduct Authority-registered insurance intermediary. Having successfully completed the border digitalisation project the company is already thinking ahead and will be focusing its attention on expanding the technology across a wider range of product lines including online sales, underwriting, credit control and claims management.

“Our goal is to produce solutions to today’s problems while also preparing for the future developments which will ensure we are still relevant three to five years from now too,” concludes Wild.