WhatsApp to offer sachet-sized health cover

Facebook-owned Whatsapp is working to enable the sale of “sachet-sized” health insurance products through its platform by the end of this year. The messaging giant is also running pilots in the areas of micro-pension, edtech and agritech, said Abhijit Bose, head of WhatsApp India, speaking at Facebook’s Fuel for India event.

The company has already gone live with payments services in partnership with four banks – State Bank of India (SBI), HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank – after it received approval to do so for 20 million of its 400 million-strong user base in India. To offer the pension and insurance services, WhatsApp will be partnering with pinBox Solutions, HDFC Pension Management Company and SBI General Insurance.