Emerging customers are in a precarious intermediary position. Their income is often too high for them to be eligible for the limited social security nets which exist for the poor in their countries, but have not quite reached the levels which would give them access to traditional private insurance. Many are in the informal economy, and as auto-entrepreneurs, owners of a micro, small and middle enterprises (MSMEs), they are not covered by employee benefits. Without protection, their transition towards the middle class therefore becomes a game of snakes and ladders, where they are always at the mercy of an illness, the theft of their bike, or a fire at their shop.
In addition, Emerging Customers often have volatile revenues and do not always know what tomorrow will look like. Long-term policies are therefore ill-adapted. Finally, traditional insurance distribution focuses a lot on agents and brokers who mostly cater to higher-end customers in urban areas. Moreover, employee benefits are not available for lower income workers, who are often in the informal economy.