Charlotte Koep, Root CEO.

Root, a South African insur-tech platform, has formed a new partnership with CIM Financial Services, a Mauritian non-banking financial institution. 

This follows CIM's implementation of Root Platform's digital insurance policy administration system.

CIM Finance provides financial solutions to individuals, SMEs, and large corporates.

For over a decade, the company has also offered credit protection insurance for credit facilities and loan repayments. 

Its Be Protected+ product, underwritten by Mauritius Union Assurance Company, offers coverage for customers' income and safeguards Credit Finance repayments against financial risks such as fire, burglary, floods, disability and hospitalisation.

Root is an end-to-end insurance platform that assists businesses in Africa, the United Kingdom, and Europe in developing, selling, and managing digital insurance products.

Charlotte Koep, Root CEO, says CIM Finance has strategically partnered with her company to streamline its operations by integrating a comprehensive digital policy lifecycle management system into its existing loan origination infrastructure.

Vincent Valéran, head of Insurance at CIM Finance who spearheaded this project, says: “The Root platform has enabled us to increase in efficiency through a robust and secure system.

"We were impressed by the flexibility of Root's workbench and appreciated its software-as-a-service nature, which made deployment seamless without the need for physical server installations on our end.”

According to Valéran, the Root team demonstrated a deep understanding of the insurance domain, effectively guiding CIM – a non-insurer – through the intricacies of insurance products.

He concludes, "Given the increasing significance of digital transformation in financial services, partnerships like this one pave the way for innovations that not only ensure a high-quality customer experience but also safeguard customer data.

“We are actively exploring diverse avenues to leverage the data gleaned from Root's platform, aiming to develop new products that address market gaps, enhance the national insurance product portfolio, and streamline insurance consumption patterns, among other initiatives."

Root’s move into Mauritius comes as the Cape-Town based insur-tech is expanding into new markets.

The company recently sealed a strategic partnership in the United Kingdom with Connect by Admiral, a subsidiary of Admiral Group, the world's largest insurer.

According to the insur-tech, which has over one million active policies on its platform, 55 products live, and a team of around 50 people, expanding into the UK was a "logical next move."