Manulife Philippines has launched Manulife Shop, a new digital platform to allow Filipinos to purchase affordable insurance products online at their own convenience.

"Manulife Shop is our latest initiative to provide intuitive, convenient, and frictionless customer experience for today's hyper-digital Filipinos, in line with our ambition to be the most customer-centric digital global company in our industry, Manulife Philippines president and chief executive officer Rahul Hora said in a statement.

Manulife Shop offers annually renewable insurance products that empower customers to choose their coverage based on their budget, with life protection coverage up to P1 million subject to the terms and conditions of their procured insurance policy.

The platform was developed in partnership with Democrance, an award-winning international insurtech start-up that digitizes distribution channels and insurance value chains for emerging market segments through fast and secure solutions.

Digital insurance embraced

Manulife Shop serves the growing number of Filipinos seeking digitally-enabled insurance to secure their protection, the statement said.

Manulife's recent study, "The Modern Filipino Family: Exploring family dynamics and digitalization in the new normal" found that 90 percent of Filipino respondents in a company survey use commerce apps, and 82 percent use finance apps for cashless payments or to buy insurance.

In addition, among those surveyed, 25 percent of Filipino Gen X and 33 percent of Filipino millennials revealed that they have bought insurance products online in the past 12 months, while 41 percent of Gen Zs are considering purchasing insurance products online in the next 12 months.

Participants in the survey cited convenience (45 percent), sense of security (22 percent), and protection (17 percent) as their reasons forbuying insurance products online.

"Through Manulife Shop, we respond to the needs of Filipinos who want access to easy and affordable insurance protection options, with the comfort of digitally driven customer experiences where they can transact seamlessly," Hora said.

The three products that can be purchased on Manulife Shop are as follows; 365 Ready Accident: an accident life insurance plan that covers accidental death, dismemberment, total permanent disability, double indemnity, and family assistance for as low as P199 a year; 365 Ready Life: a term life insurance plan that provides coverage for as little as P249 a year; and 365 Ready Duo: a combination of term life and personal accident insurance plan that provides both life and accident protection benefits for as low as P448 a year.