Insurtech company Cova has introduced a new remote payment solution for auto insurance, built around artificial intelligence. The concept is straightforward: automate the reading of vehicle registration documents in order to instantly calculate the regulated insurance rate that applies to a given car.
In practice, users record a short video of their vehicle registration card — or its filing receipt — using a smartphone. The tool extracts key information from the document, including taxable horsepower, vehicle usage, and fuel type. Based on those details, it automatically applies the official pricing grid set by regulation and displays the corresponding premium.
Customers renewing their policies can then prepay their premium remotely and have their insurance certificate delivered.
For Cova, the objective is twofold: simplify the customer experience and make pricing more secure. “Automated data reading is designed to eliminate manual entry errors, speed up the subscription process, and allow accurate quoting — and even remote prepayment in the case of renewals,” the company said.
By limiting human intervention during the data collection phase, the system aims to reduce input mistakes that can lead to disputes or delays in issuing policies.
Expanding the Payment Network
To collect premiums, Cova relies on local financial partners. Led by Virginie Pouna Ngomi, the company works with Express Union and MaMoni Finances through their payment platforms Maviance, UFIPAY, and MaMoni Pay.
The goal is to broaden access to payments beyond traditional insurance offices. “We envision nationwide coverage where customers can pay their insurance at the branch of their preferred financial institution and pick up their certificate at the nearest insurer’s office — until the certificate itself becomes a secure digital document in Cameroon,” Pouna Ngomi said.
Cova also reports operations across all member countries of the Inter-African Conference on Insurance Markets (CIMA). That regional footprint allows the platform to automatically adjust pricing to reflect each country’s regulatory framework.
In a market still largely driven by in-person procedures and physical paperwork, the initiative reflects a broader shift toward digitalization in the insurance sector, with the gradual dematerialization of insurance certificates as a longer-term goal.
Ludovic Amara
