Fortis UK has acquired a majority shareholding in UK firm Text2Insure, which sells insurance via SMS text technology, providing access to quotations and purchasing of insurance in the UK. Fortis will offer this mobile service under the Text2Insure brand.
Barry Smith, CEO of Fortis UK, said, in the UK over 100 million text messages are sent each day. Our acquisition of Text2Insure complements our existing range of propositions to the affinity market and enables us to proactively respond to the demands of the mobile generation. In particular, we are keen to understand how we can penetrate affinity sectors that have a strong alignment with mobile phone users.
The acquisition will have no material impact on Fortis’s solvency or net earnings per share.
Text2Insure was launched in 2005 to provide a quotation and purchase facility for travel insurance, using mobile phone (SMS text) technology. It has been designed to offer ‘last minute’ travel insurance to those who have not arranged cover before they travel.
Using information provided by affinities or as a result of response to marketing activity, Text2Insure contacts customers via SMS text message, generating insurance quotations through SMS exchanges. If the customer wishes to buy the insurance, either they are called back by telephone so the transaction can be completed, or Text2Insure can offer the customer, using a secure payment process, an opportunity to complete the complete purchase via their mobile.