Amazon now sells auto insurance in India

Comment

Amazon’s India business said on Thursday it has begun offering auto insurance to cover two and four-wheelers in the country, marking the American giant’s first foray into this financial services category globally.

The e-commerce giant said it had inked a deal with Mumbai-headquartered Acko General Insurance to offer customers car and motor-bike insurance. Amazon is also an investor in Acko.

Mahendra Nerurkar, chief executive and director of Amazon Pay in India, said on Wednesday evening at a fintech conference that the company was planning to expand its insurance service to offer coverage on health, flight and cabs.

The auto insurance is available to customers through Amazon Pay on the e-commerce giant’s website and app. The company said buying insurance will take less than two minutes and requires no paperwork.

“This coupled with services like hassle-free claims with zero paperwork, one-hour pick-up, 3-day assured claim servicing and 1 year repair warranty – in select cities, as well as an option for instant cash settlements for low value claims, making it beneficial for customers,” it added.

Customers who have subscribed to Amazon Prime, the company’s loyalty program that costs about $13 a year in India, will be able to access additional benefits and discounts, Amazon said without identifying those benefits.

India’s insurance market is the latest financial services sector that has attracted the attention of local and international tech giants. Paytm, India’s most valued startup, and its chief executive Vijay Shekhar Sharma, acquired insurance firm Raheja QBE for a sum of $76 million earlier this month.

In India, only a fraction of the nation’s 1.3 billion people currently have access to insurance, and some analysts say that digital firms could prove crucial in bringing these services to the masses.

According to rating agency ICRA, insurance products had reached less than 3% of the population as of 2017. An average Indian makes about $2,100 a year, according to the World Bank. Of those Indians who had purchased an insurance product, they were spending less than $50 on it in 2017, ICRA estimated.

“Our vision is to make Amazon Pay the most trusted, convenient and rewarding way to pay for our customers. Delighted by this experience, there has been a growing demand for more services. In line with this need, we are excited to launch an auto insurance product that is affordable, convenient, and provides a seamless claims experience,” said Vikas Bansal, director and head of financial services at Amazon Pay in India, in a statement.

Though Amazon Pay is available in several markets, the payments service’s offering in India remains unmatched. The company has used the world’s second largest internet market, where it has invested more than $6.5 billion to date, as a testbed to explore various unique opportunities. The Amazon Pay app in India, for instance, also sells movie and flight tickets.

More TechCrunch

Get the industry’s biggest tech news

Every weekday and Sunday, you can get the best of TechCrunch’s coverage.

Startups are the core of TechCrunch, so get our best coverage delivered weekly.

The latest Fintech news and analysis, delivered every Tuesday.

TechCrunch Mobility is your destination for transportation news and insight.

By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice.

Tags

We’re about to learn a whole lot more about how the human body reacts to space 

We could be entering a renaissance for human spaceflight research, as a record number of private citizens head to space — and as scientists improve techniques for gathering data on…

Former NSA head joins OpenAI board and safety committee

The high-profile addition is likely intended to satisfy critics who think that OpenAI is moving faster than is wise for its customers and possibly humanity.

Tesla shareholders vote yes again to approve Elon Musk’s $56B pay plan 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has secured enough shareholder votes to have his 2018 stock option compensation package approved. Shareholders also approved the company’s decision to re-incorporate Tesla in Texas, moving…

Apple gives developers a way to nominate their apps for editorial consideration on the App Store

From a new Nominations dashboard in App Store Connect, developers will be able to create their nominations, either one by one or by uploading a spreadsheet to nominate apps in…

What StepStone’s $3.3B venture secondaries fund tells us about LPs’ current appetite for venture

StepStone raised the largest fund dedicated to investing in venture secondaries ever, the firm announced last week. This fundraise doesn’t just say a lot about StepStone’s venture secondaries investing prowess,…

Spotify announces an in-house creative agency, tests generative AI voiceover ads

Spotify announced on Thursday that it’s venturing further into the ad space with its first in-house creative agency called Creative Lab, helping brands create custom marketing campaigns. It will also…

Here’s everything Apple announced at the WWDC 2024 keynote, including Apple Intelligence, Siri makeover

The TechCrunch team runs down all of the biggest news from the Apple WWDC 2024 keynote in an easy-to-skim digest.

Tesla shareholders sue Musk for starting competing AI company

Tesla shareholders are suing CEO Elon Musk and members of the automaker’s board of directors over Musk’s decision to start xAI, which they say is a competing AI company, and…

Apple’s Spotlight Search gets better at natural language queries in iOS 18

With the Core Spotlight framework, developers can donate content they want to make searchable via Spotlight.

Tesla and its fans waged an unprecedented battle over Elon Musk’s $56B pay package

It’s all part of an effort to say that, this time, when the shareholders vote to approve his monster $56 billion compensation package, they were fully informed.

Tesla shareholders to vote today on $56B pay package

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! Kirsten Korosec…

Featured Article

GPTZero’s founders, still in their 20s, have a profitable AI detection startup, millions in the bank and a new $10M Series A

GPTZero’s growth and financials made it one of the AI startups ruthlessly pursued by VCs. And Footwork’s Nikhil Basu Trivedi won the deal.

Here are the best WWDC 2024 features you missed

Apple announced a number of new features and updates onstage during its keynote address at WWDC 2024, including updates to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, VisionOS and the introduction of Apple Intelligence.…

WhatsApp adds new features to the calling experience, including support for 32-person video calls

WhatsApp updated the video calling experience across devices on Thursday by introducing screen sharing with audio support and a new speaker spotlight feature. It’s also increasing the limit for video…

Amazon says it’ll spend $230 million on generative AI startups

To sweeten the pot, Amazon is pledging that startups in this year’s Generative AI Accelerator cohort will gain access to experts and tech from Nvidia, the program’s presenting partner.

Picsart partners with Getty Images to develop a custom AI model

Picsart, a photo-editing startup backed by SoftBank, announced on Thursday that it’s partnering with Getty Images to develop a custom model to bring AI imagery to its 150 million users. The…

After the Yahoo News app revamp, Yahoo preps AI summaries on homepage, too

Yahoo’s AI push isn’t over just yet. The company, also TechCrunch’s parent, recently launched AI-powered features for Yahoo Mail, including its own take on Gmail’s Priority Inbox and AI summaries…

Unigrid wants to make batteries cheaper and safer using sodium

Sodium-ion isn’t quite ready for widespread use, but one startup thinks it has surmounted the battery chemistry’s key hurdles.

LinkedIn leans on AI to do the work of job hunting

LinkedIn is launching new AI tools to help you look for jobs, write cover letters and job applications, personalize learning, and a new search experience.

Court halts Byju’s second rights issue as $200M fundraise falters

An Indian court has restrained Byju’s from proceeding with its second rights issue amid allegations of oppression and mismanagement by its shareholders.

Aepnus wants to create a circular economy for key battery manufacturing materials

The specter of wastewater threatens to stall the construction of battery factories. One startup, though, says the solution is to recycle it.

AccountsIQ takes in $65M to boost bookkeeping with AI

AccountsIQ, a Dublin-founded accounting technology company, has raised $65 million to build “the finance function of the future” for midsized companies.

Android’s long-time VP of engineering Dave Burke is stepping down

Android is losing one of its long-time engineering leads. Dave Burke, VP of engineering at Android, said on Thursday that he is stepping down from the role after 14 years.…

Why being the last company to launch in a category can pay off

When Jordan Nathan launched his DTC nontoxic cookware company, Caraway, in 2019, he knew he was not the only founder trying to sell a new brand of pots and pans…

This humanoid robot can drive cars — sort of

Out of an abundance of caution, the car took two minutes to turn a corner.

Ahead of Tesla’s big shareholder vote, let’s re-read the judge’s opinion that got us here

There has been a silly amount of drama in the run-up to Tesla‘s annual shareholder meeting on Thursday. The company is set to hold a vote on “re-ratifying” the $56…

iOS 18 cracks down on apps asking for full address book access

To give users more control over the contacts an app can and cannot access, the permissions screen has two stages.

Generative AI takes robots a step closer to general purpose

The push to produce a robotic intelligence that can fully leverage the wide breadth of movements opened up by bipedal humanoid design has been a key topic for researchers.

Ford’s secretive, low-cost EV team is growing with talent from Rivian, Tesla and Apple

A TechCrunch review of LinkedIn data found that Ford has built this team up to around 300 employees over the last year.

Tern AI wants to reduce reliance on GPS with low-cost navigation alternative 

The most critical systems of our modern world rely on GPS, from aviation and road networks to emergency and disaster response, from precision farming and power grids to weather forecasting…

About

Legal

Trending Tech Topics

Powered by WordPress VIP