Grace Burnett, CEO of GK Financial Group.

GK General Insurance Company Limited and GraceKennedy Money Services Limited launched a microinsurance product, RemitCare, targeted at Jamaicans receiving money transfers from abroad through the Western Union network.

The product adds to a portfolio of micro products, which pulled in $30 million in premium payments for the insurer in 2016, almost twice as much as the $16 million collected the year before.

Through is partnership with Western Union, the GraceKennedy conglomerates controls just over 50 per cent of the remittance market. The nearest rival, MoneyGram, has 20 per cent of the market.

The RemitCare policy will cost $250 to $600 monthly, depending on the size of remittances. Its available remittances continuously, GK General Managing Director Grace Burnett defines as at least once every six months.

The policy promises to pay out between $30,000 and $100,000 over two months for disability – temporary or permanent – or death of the sender resulting from an accident.

The policy is now available for purchase by remittance recipients at six locations in Jamaica. Burnett said roll-out nationwide will commence in two months.

Burnett told the Financial Gleaner that under a pilot test of the product at the Pavilion Mall in Kingston, 200 policies were sold to money-transfer recipients in a short period.

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