Zainab Iwayemi
The second-largest insurance company in Europe, AXA Group has partnered with Bitcoin Suisse, a Swiss crypto-finance and technology firm to accept bitcoin as means of payment following the demand of clients for an alternative method of payment. The Insurance group revealed in a blog post on its website.
The recent integration came following a research which commenced at the end of 2019, where the company asked clients to share their thoughts on crypto. From the result, which showed that a third of the respondents admitted that they either owned or were interested in cryptocurrencies, AXA rooted its postulation that COVID-19 pandemic expedited the digital transformation by bolstering the adoption of digital currency on its platform.
According to the Swiss insurer, the BTC payment option will be available to its private clients starting this April as users would only need the reference number, the amount due, and a bitcoin wallet to settle their bills in BTC. However, the AXA Group stated that it is only accepting bitcoin as payment for all non-life product premiums; with hopes that regulatory adjustment will allow it to include other products in the future.
In Future, the insurer may extend the new payment method on bills it sends by email to allow customers to pay in bitcoin by visiting the necessary website to make transfer through a seamless process.
AXA, in a bid to explain how the system will determine how much bitcoin a user needs to pay, said that the amount a customer owes will be calculated into an equivalent sum in bitcoin. It however noted that the current exchange rate will remain valid for a specified amount of time.
“During this window, the client will not bear any exchange rate risk. Additionally, AXA will not charge the users any special fees while making transactions in bitcoin,” It said.
Nevertheless the foregoing, Nigeria’s apex bank had in a recent circular prohibited deposit money banks and other financial institutions from dealing with cryptocurrency exchanges as it ordered for the closure of bank accounts having connections with any crypto trader. Meanwhile, there could be uncertainty looming within the insurance space in Nigeria as AXA Mansard insurance, a Nigerian subsidiary of the AXA group could experience difficulty in the adoption of virtual currency on its platform as a payment option.
