Majority of Ugandans are just one medical emergency and hospital admission away from financial ruin and untold disaster. This is because accessing quality healthcare is very expensive and a preserve of a few.
Even though the government, with support from development partners, has invested massively in healthcare, the cost of medication remains very high for the uninsured.
It is this predicament that inspired a group of young Ugandans to come up with a digital platform that can enable ordinarily Ugandans save money for health emergencies.
Named Peleyta Health, this digital platform is a flexible, affordable and convenient FinTech helping low-income earners prepare for and afford quality healthcare anywhere at all times through a digital healthcare micro savings and lending.
“We derive our name Peleyta from the English word Pay Later; meaning that if you request for a medical loan from Peleyta, we have it extended to you, get treated and pay later at your convenience. We believe that no one should struggle financially to receive healthcare,” Douglas Smith, the Peleyta Co-Founder, said.
He added: “When you look at insurance penetration in Uganda, it stands at 1 percent, leaving over 43 million Ugandans uninsured. At Peleyta Health, we enable our users to save as low as UGX 500 cumulatively deducted and reserved for health care. All this is done through mobile money. This fund can be used to offset their medical bills or buy medicine at registered healthcare facilities and pharmacies. And in case these funds are not sufficient, they can request for a micro loan and we do a top up for them.”
To start this journey, the team behind Peleyta Health was challenged and motivated by an unfortunate viral story of a one Anita Mushieimana, who walked to Kitwe Health Centre IV (Ntungamo district) to give birth, upon reaching at the health centre, she delivered at the gate because she failed to pay UGX 50,000 to let her into the delivery Ward.
“After some time designing this platform, we launched early this year and have so far cleared medical bills of more than 150 subscribers. We also have more than 20 health facilities registered on our platform. We started from Ibanda district and are progressing well in western Uganda. We plan to expand to more healthcare facilities across Uganda.”
To get started, you download the Peleyta APP or visit their website and register. Only registered members are guaranteed to access Peleyta services within the shortest time possible since their KYC and due diligence in general was earlier done during registration stage.
Registered members instantly have a savings account with Peleyta Health created; an account they keep servicing either daily, weekly, or monthly starting with as low as UGX 500. These savings attract interests at the end of the month. Savers will access their savings to clear their medical fares anytime.
Peleyta Health is the 5th participant of the 2022 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative.
40-Days 40-FinTechs
Now in its third edition, #40Days40FinTechs has quickly grown into one of the world’s premier showcase events for the innovations that are enabling ever more people to join the digital economy space. That is surely going to remain the case, in large part due to the inspiration and collaboration that our partners; Level One Project, Mojaloop, ModusBox, and Crosslake Technologies generate, but mostly because of the continuing, generous support of the Gates Foundation.
Digital Innovators and FinTechs around East Africa should be more eager to embrace 40 Days 40 FinTechs as Season three will cover physical destinations in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda.
Run under HiPipo’s Include Everyone program that also encompasses other initiatives such as FinTech Landscape Exhibition, Women in FinTech Hackathon, Summit & Incubator and the Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit and Digital Impact Awards Africa; the #40Days40FinTechs platform aptly provides a setting for the various players and stakeholders involved in digital and financial technology to exhibit their products & Services and also share their ideas on how more of us, especially those unserved and underserved by the present financial systems, can be brought into the fold.
The 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative offers participants useful tools and an introduction to industry’s emerging technologies, such as Mojaloop Open Source Software, and guidance from Level One Project foundational material. The skills gained from this initiative cover Level One Project Principles, Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), Inclusive Finance and FinTech in general.
According to HiPipo CEO Innocent Kawooya, this year’s edition will cement achievements of the previous editions – where over 60 FinTechs have been transformed – but also build on them to leverage digital financial inclusion in East Africa and beyond.
“As HiPipo, our extensive effort and advocacy is partly for the intention of championing digital innovation and interoperable instant and inclusive payment systems (IIPS) in Africa to a point where our innovators enjoy and achieve sound profit margins to help them keep designing and deploying affordable and inclusive financial services for the poor,” Kawooya said.
