INTERVIEW: Mobile platform revolutionising Kenya's healthcare access

CarePay Ltd is a Kenyan firm that was started to connect people to better healthcare. The company is behind the M-tiba platform, through which it directs funds into a ‘health wallet’ in users’ mobile phones. The platform allows anyone to send and save money, but restricts the use of these funds to medical treatment at selected healthcare facilities. We spoke to CarePay Chief Executive Kees Van Lede on his company’s efforts to drive healthcare inclusion for millions of Kenyans.

How many people are registered with M-tiba, and what plans do you have to get more Kenyans to sign up?

As of today, we have more than 200,000 users registered on M-tiba. We are operational across the country and are rolling out our sign-up and marketing teams in Western, Central and parts of Eastern Kenya.

Nationally, more than 300 healthcare providers have been connected to our platform and we’re rolling out to more providers and patients every day.

There are many people who confuse M-tiba with a health insurance policy, where clients pay premiums, and when they fall sick, they can access more money than the premiums paid. How is M-tiba different?

M-tiba is a mobile health wallet that allows users to save, send and spend funds stored on the platform for healthcare services. It is not insurance, but a medical pre-payment offer that equips users with financial protection in case they fall sick.

M-tiba targets low-income groups, as it helps reduce out-of-pocket expenditure. We work closely with insurance companies and Government agencies, such as NHIF [National Hospital Insurance Fund], to complement the existing services being offered to patients at M-tiba clinics.

Your plan was to bring about more inclusion in the provision of health services in a country where insurance penetration is low. How much of this have you achieved?

Developing and applying mobile technology to make healthcare inclusive is the core of what we do. The mobile phone is rapidly changing the economic and social framework of Africa, offering unprecedented opportunities to reduce financial barriers and improve quality in healthcare. It is estimated that 50 per cent of vulnerable groups pay healthcare expenses out-of-pocket — this is mainly because conventional insurance policies are beyond their financial reach. This puts a huge financial strain on low-income Kenyans. M-tiba offers such groups an opportunity to put money aside for medical expenses. Funds set aside are exclusively for medical care, which can be accessed at accredited M-tiba clinics. More and more people are signing up and saving on the platform, empowering themselves to take care of their own health.

Has M-tiba turning into a profitable venture for the stakeholders involved in developing it?

We are currently at the investment phase, but we have expectations that the business will be profitable in the next five years.

So what does one need to do to register for an M-tiba account?

M-tiba is now available to all Safaricom customers who have an M-Pesa enabled SIM card. Users can simply dial *253# and complete the steps in the menu to register. Alternatively, users can visit our agents, who are normally community health workers at M-tiba clinics.

Registration is free, as is saving into your own M-tiba. Safaricom also offers users a top-up bonus of Sh50 each month when they save a minimum of Sh100 in their M-tiba, and they also qualify for free personal accident cover of up to Sh8,000.

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