Motor Insurance is one of the most common types of Insurance as all roadworthy vehicles must purchase and periodically renew it. While there are different motor insurance types, the most common are third-party and comprehensive.
Traditionally, one had to visit an insurance company or broker to pay for their premium, have their sticker printed and later displayed on the car.
But innovators are using technology to change this for the better. In Zambia, a platform that allows car owners and drivers to purchase insurance digitally is fast-growing.
“We started CarVer almost three years ago. This is after we realized that most people that purchase motor insurance had to line up at Insurance Companies and Post Offices just to purchase insurance,” Musonda Chitobolo, the Chief Operations Officer of CarVer explained.
He noted that it is from this background that together with likeminded innovators, developed a digital broker platform that allows car owners and drivers to purchase insurance anywhere, anytime.
“We decided to develop something that is convenient for the end-users at the convenience of their homes or offices, they are able to purchase insurance, get cover for their vehicles and also road tax. Our APP is available on mobile, web and USSD. CarVer is not just exclusively for the Zambia market. Even drivers from across COMESA that are coming in to Zambia can also purchase Insurance using this APP. Once you download the APP, onboarding is very simple. You enter the vehicle registration number, indicate your Insurance preference; company, type and period. The system will then tabulate how much you have to pay for your premium.
Chitobolo noted that CarVer has integrated different payment platforms thus allowing multiple digital payments options.
“Once the tabulation is done and amount to be paid is known, the system will ask you how you want to pay. We have integrated Mobile Money, Cards like VISA and few other digital payment aggregators. This allows the user to make a digital payment on the system. Once the payment is received, a confirmation will be sent after which the cover note will be sent to the customer by email and SMS. The customer can then print out their Insurance cover anywhere anytime and display it on their car. Essentially, all this process is completed within two minutes thus serving time for both customers and insurance companies.
He highlighted that as of March 2025, CarVer had already twelve Insurance companies on the platform, and onboarded over 200,000 vehicles.
Even so, he noted that the main challenge facing their business is limited technology infrastructure that affects the seamless execution of their work.
CarVer featured on Day 4 of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative; Zambia and Malawi edition. The roll-out of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative in Zambia and Malawi followed its success in East Africa. Over the past 5 years, the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative has featured over 200 FinTech stories from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda. This initiative has also engaged hundreds of end-users and shared their stories with millions worldwide. The primary objective of this initiative is to support and showcase innovative FinTech giants and start-ups from across Africa, with a focus on promoting financial inclusion and economic growth, in addition to giving start-ups access to the resources they need to develop new and innovative financial solutions that can benefit underserved populations. Such resources include but are not limited to Level One Project guidelines, Mojaloop Open Source Software and Inclusive Finance systems, etc.