Gen Zs hack the future with game-changing ideas at 2nd AIA Philam Life Hackers
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Considered the woke generation, Gen Zs who grew up aware of social issues are in a perfect position to share their thoughts on what they think the future should be. And this is why AIA Philam Life sought to pick their brains for innovative ideas through its hackfest in 2019. Coming from the wealth of ideas that surfaced from the first run of the event, the company realized how smart a move it was and decided that it should be repeated, with or without a pandemic.
Joined by over 400 students, with 87 teams from 85 schools nationwide, AIA Philam Life Hackers 2020 recently staged a seven-day virtual challenge that distinguished young Filipino champions in marketing, technology and product innovation — exactly the three categories where AIA Philam Life users can expect a new-blood revamp.
Determined to solve the big problem, “How do we insure more Filipinos at a faster rate and make our brand promise of helping people live healthier, longer, better lives more concrete?” the following groups came up with ground-breaking ideas to riddle out financial illiteracy in the country — fact: less than two percent of Filipinos are insured. On the side, each team received a plum prize of P75,000 and possible internship at AIA Philam Life, with Product/ Service Innovation and Technology runners up bringing home P20,000 and Marketing Innovation runners up receiving Garmin fitness devices.
Breakthrough Product/Service Innovation: Bente para kay Phiggy
Team Chicken Wings: Allysa-Nicole Oabel, John Lemuel Melaya, Zhyna Diche, Princess Felicila Cajigal and Shaira Olan
Coined from Phi for Philam and ggy for piggy bank, Bente para kay Phiggy is a student financial program that covers life insurance with returns of premium at maturity. The coverage highlights insurance, student discount and convertibility to investments, in partnership with different institutions.
“Your P20 can go a long way,” said the winning team. They are composed of Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) students, who are also leaders in their school organization, JFINEX-PUP.
The team based their proposed solutions on their own personal problems and challenges as young adults. “We put ourselves in the shoes of our target audience. Our winning proposal is specifically intended to help the students be at ease and gain financial growth while being protected,” they shared.
Our Lady of Fatima University’s Team Psychology Society—composed of Tracy Anne Pangilinan, Honeylyn Besañez, Raquel Sarah Dimazana, Patricia Gail Po and Alquin Ignacio—earned runner-up.
Breakthrough Technology: Philam iLink
Team FinHackers: Andrea Jane Barua, Alberto Jose Maricaban, Richron Brix Mercado, Kirsten Roberts and John Henry Villa
Also hailing from JFINEX-PUP, Team FinHackers demonstrated a prototype of their super app called iLink. A platform that’s meant to serve financial advisors and existing and potential clients, iLink wowed the judges for its user-friendly features that provide the right awareness and financial education among Filipinos.
“The root-cause analysis showed that having insurance is perceived by Filipinos to be a liability than a source of fund for emergencies. Our solution aims to provide the right awareness about insurance, financial products and services that are necessary and value-adding. The ultimate goal is to urge every Filipino to have an insurance and, in the long-term, normalize the culture of having an insurance,” said the team.
The FinHackers wishes to see the super app eventually used by millions of Filipinos. “We would like to be part of the app testing, if ever AIA Philam Life pursues the Philam iLink,” they quipped.
Despite being a strong qualifier for the Technology set, the days leading to the final presentation and judging were too tough of a journey to the team because of the virtual setup. From recruitment of students to collaboration, pitching and announcement of winners, everything was done virtually.
“Before the event, we had an initial plan but we had difficulty in choosing the best category to join, and our ideas were very scattered. Luckily, our AIA Philam Life mentor, Mr. Tennyson Paras, helped us decide,” they shared.
Each finalist group received guidance from an AIA Philam Life mentor and a series of talks from industry experts, namely, Nicholas Chen of Accenture HK, Grace David of edukasyon.ph, Martin Gonzales of Google, and Joan Magno of Canva, as well as AIA Philam Life subject matter exp rts in various aspects of the insurance industry.
Breakthrough Marketing Innovation: Philam Verge
Team Future Proof: Jemar Luczon, Ron Simon Lomibao, Rachel Vivien Roxas, Crizan Kyle Jureidini and Moreen Elize Agustin
The group is composed of Katipunan neighbors, University of the Philippines Diliman and Ateneo De Manila University, who managed to qualify for all three categories and bagged two awards, champion in Marketing Innovation and first runner-up in Technology.
Their pitch, Philam Verge, features a three-part approach: it primarily boosts the company’s current Vitality users through year-end rewards, increases financial advisers through a scholar-ambassador program, and offers P20 microinsurance to a wider Filipino base.
“Even after winning AIA Philam Life Hackers, we look forward to serving the people and creating impact in ways unimaginable. We’d use our financial background as well as the meaningful memories learned through the hackathon to help solve the world’s biggest problems, one step at a time,” they vowed.
PUP’s Team 123—with John Marc Dimailig, Mary Joanne Batuampo, Florence Allaine Belarmino, Recca Jane Illustrisimo and Alvin Malonzo—was announced the runner-up.
Born with internet and gadgets in their hand, Gen Zs are said to be the best-educated generation. So, whether through proposing game-changing business solutions for an insurance firm or selling the policies per se, there’s something in the youth that we can heed if we want to improve the world.
The event was made possible by the following sponsors: Accenture, ADA, Garmin, McDonald's, Nexxus Technologies, Quality Kiosk, Paynamics, Publicis Groupe, SGV & CO and Teleperformance.
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