As Bupa Arabia for Cooperative Insurance celebrates a quarter century of health service in the insurance sector in Saudi Arabia, it looks back with pride on the journey that it has traveled since its inception in October 1997. For 25 years, it served the Kingdom as one of the leading insurance companies contributing to the development of the sector at all levels, through the distinguished healthcare services for millions of its customers.
Bupa Arabia led the sector in adopting digital transformation, making it the main focus of its business, in line with the Executive Program of Vision 2030 related to improving the quality and efficiency of health services, and in accordance with the company’s strategic vision.
These remarkable efforts helped it win several awards and nominations, locally and regionally — the latest of which is the Health Insurance Excellence Award by the Health Insurance Council in 2022.
The health insurance journey
Saudis began having insurance experience in the 1940s when the first marine insurance
system was launched. However, with the boom in the economy, several agencies and
branches of international insurance companies began operating in the 1970s.
Bupa Arabia played a major role in the development of the insurance sector by providing the highest levels of innovation in products and services, organizing campaigns and awareness events, and was at the forefront of insurance companies that paid great attention to digital transformation.
Also, it led the digitization process by establishing a department for digital transformation in 2018, which led to the development, facilitation and increase of its services provided to customers, and contributed to a significant increase in productivity.
Not only that, but Bupa Arabia provided its customers with innovative digital services to which they will have direct access 24/7 with a single touch via the “Bupa Click” program, and the “Bupa Tebtom” program, which provides customers with a variety of services such as home vaccination for children, the Tebtom team, telemedicine, and others.
Additionally, “Rahatkom” program that provides an integrated experience for the member from the time he enters the hospital, until he receives the necessary healthcare, in addition to launching a virtual telemedicine platform, and providing exclusive programs to facilitate the hospitalization journey of its customers and improve their digital health experience.
Bupa Arabia was also the first company to launch an insurance application called “Bupa Arabia,” which facilitated the provision of many services to customers while they are at home, such as booking appointments in hospitals, choosing clinics and specialties, choosing a place to receive medicines, receiving and speeding up approvals, and booking a visual appointment with the specialist doctor in less than a minute.
It is worth noting that Bupa Arabia was proactive in communicating with its customers through text messages to inform them of the status of their requests, and was the first to launch the health lounge program at the customers’ headquarters with the aim of promoting healthy lifestyles, improving the quality of life for community members, and enabling them to enjoy a healthy life.
Bupa Arabia decided to increase its capital from SR1.2 billion to SR1.5 billion during the extraordinary general assembly meeting last December 2022, to increase the number of the company’s issued shares from 120 million shares to 150 million shares.
The sector made a healthy contribution to improving the Saudi economy. Private health insurance is now alone expected to contribute more than SR60 billion by 2030 with the number of beneficiaries reaching 21.7 million.
25 years of trust and achievements
Tal Nazer, the CEO of Bupa Arabia, said: “The company has completed a quarter of a century with remarkable achievements, earning huge experience by serving the community. Bupa Arabia is today one of the most prominent, popular, and innovative companies in the Kingdom. It plays a leadership role in the insurance market by focusing on customers’ needs. As part of its social responsibility, Bupa Arabia launched a series of campaigns to sustain health awareness drives among the people helping it earn a large number of awards on the local as well as regional level.”
“The company, in the beginning, faced certain challenges in a market driven by high costs, but we navigated through them successfully to become a leader in the health insurance sector in Saudi Arabia and the whole region,” he said.
In 1997, it was established in partnership between Nazer Group and Bupa Global International with the aim to provide health insurance services with high quality and reasonable prices, while ensuring the provision of a distinctive experience for the customer in the market. It is highly competitive, with a high cost, and the company has succeeded in facing these challenges, and has become a leader in the health insurance sector in the Kingdom, and the entire region.
Tal Nazer added: “The strategy adopted by Bupa Arabia has changed much of the face of the insurance industry in the Kingdom, and its continuation on possession of more than 45% of the health insurance market.” He expressed his pride in the company’s service to more than 3 million customers in the Kingdom.
Pioneering awards in 2022
In 2022, Bupa Arabia won a series of prestigious international awards in health insurance and digital innovation, the latest of which was the Health Insurance Excellence Award launched by the Health Insurance Council, in 3 categories: “Best Customer Service Award” and “NPHIES Health Insurance Services” award, and the “C-Suite of the Year,” which was won by Tal Nazer, CEO of the company. The company’s awards during the year reached 23 categories from 12 regional and local awards across several fields.
Bupa Arabia maintained its first position in the list of the most valuable insurance companies in the Middle East, for the second year in a row. The company was ranked among the 10 most powerful brands in Saudi Arabia by Kantar BrandZ, and ranked 15th in the list of the most valuable brands in all sectors of the Saudi market, respectively.
=It was also ranked 8th in the list of the 100 largest joint-stock companies listed in the capital market, and Forbes Middle East magazine announced that “Bupa Arabia” topped the list of the top 5 insurance companies in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in terms of market value.
As part of its pivotal role in health awareness, Bupa Arabia launched a series of (Live Right) events in Jeddah, Riyadh, and the Eastern Province, during 2022; With the aim of improving the quality of life, and enabling families to lead a full and healthy life.
