Cellphones are taking over our lives and therefore it should naturally follow that we use the devices to insure our lives.
As long as you have your cellphone with you, you can take photographs and videos and send them to people. You can pay your bills and check your bank balance. The latest technology allows us to watch 16 TV channels on our phones. The best part about cellphones is that you can do all of this from your car, optimising the time wasted in traffic jams and at least cut down on the economic loss of electricity outages that sweep the country every rush hour.
Despite handsets and Bluetooths and walk-and-talk devices, most people drive around with a cellphone in their hand while maximising their time. Ergo, cellphones must be a major cause of car accidents and road rage. Therefore it is fitting that you can now buy a funeral policy using your cellphone that according to Discovery Life, is as simple as topping up your pre-paid cellphone time. Think about passengers of a taxi bus driver who is driving particularly precariously: they can use their cellphones to quickly and affordably ensure that they have funeral cover before making final calls to loved ones.
Discovery, in conjunction with Vodacom, has launched the Discovery Prepaid Funeral Plan with premiums starting at just R40 a month for R10 000 cover.
This is Discovery’s first product aimed at the lower end of the market. All you have to do is buy a Discovery Prepaid Funeral Plan starter pack and then purchase a recharge voucher every time you pay for your cover every month. Discovery can also debit a customer’s airtime each month rather than their bank account, which saves on bank fees and is ideal for customers who do not have a bank account. Using airtime to buy funeral cover could be the start of a new currency, bringing an entirely new meaning to cellphone banking.