UPU, AXA and CNP Assurances launch new partnership to expand access to inclusive insurance through postal networks

Berne / Issy-les-Moulineaux, 9 July 2025 – The Universal Postal Union (UPU), AXA and CNP Assurances have announced the launch of a strategic partnership to promote inclusive insurance through postal networks worldwide. The initiative builds on a global research on postal inclusive finance and will be implemented through the newly established Postal Insurance Technical Assistance Facility (PITAF).

Postal networks are powerful vectors for financial inclusion as they address issues of accessibility, affordability, and trust.  Across the world, more than 1.5 billion people – or approximately 28% of the adult population – access financial services through postal networks. In 2021, 53% of postal services already offered insurance services, compared to 38% in 2016, illustrating growing interest in postal inclusive insurance as an important financial resilience tool.

Recognizing the potential of the postal sector to boost financial inclusion, the UPU is working to expand access to postal inclusive insurance through partnerships with private insurance providers. Such collaborations have the potential to enable the postal networks to offer a broader range of insurance options especially in rural and underserved communities in remote areas.
To turn this vision into action, UPU has partnered with AXA and CNP Assurances to roll out a five-year program focused on expanding inclusive insurance in the postal networks of UPU member countries.
The initiative began in 2024 with a global study, mapping out existing postal insurance models and solutions around the globe. Find out more about the study here.

Building on the study’s finding, the second phase of the program was launched in 2025 with the creation of the Postal Insurance Technical Assistance Facility (PITAF). In this phase, CNP Assurances joined the UPU and AXA to support postal operators in creating, expanding, or diversifying their inclusive insurance services. Part of the French major public financial institution, CNP Assurances is a subsidiary of La Banque Postale within the group La Poste.

Through PITAF, the partnership will aim to:
 

• Promote financial inclusion by helping postal operators develop inclusive insurance products and services that meet the needs of unbanked and vulnerable populations;

• Strengthen the financial sustainability of postal operators by diversifying their products and services;

• Foster collaboration between key stakeholders, including postal operators, insurance providers and governments to create an enabling environment for inclusive insurance development;

• Support the implementation of postal insurance regulatory provisions;

• Create a knowledge-sharing platform for sharing of best practices on postal inclusive insurance across the UPU network and beyond.

With their global experience in inclusive insurance – particularly in Africa and Asia for Axa and Latin America for CNP Assurances– the two insurers will support postal operators by sharing the latest innovations in insurance, operating models, effective sales strategies, and knowledge transfer tools, helping expand access to insurance solutions for underserved communities.  The program will aim to respond to the needs of low-income populations, often excluded from traditional channels, with tailored insurance solutions, thus contributing to broader national financial inclusion strategies and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
 
This collaboration highlights the importance of public-private partnerships in advancing financial inclusion worldwide. The PITAF program is currently at its early stages and remains opens to additional partners – insurers, financial service providers, and other ecosystem actors - interested in joining the mission to make inclusive insurance accessible for all.
 
Mr Masahiko Metoki, UPU Director General, said: “The UPU partnership with AXA and CNP Assurances demonstrates the essential role the private sector can play, in collaboration with the UPU, to advance financial inclusion. Through PITAF we aim to support member countries and their postal operators to deliver inclusive insurance solutions that protect vulnerable populations and broaden access to essential financial services through the postal network.”
 
Ms Marie-Aude Thépaut, Chief Executive Officer of CNP Assurances, said: "As a responsible insurer committed to an inclusive and sustainable society, a subsidiary of La Banque Postale within the group La Poste, we are convinced that postal networks are powerful vectors for the distribution of insurance products for vulnerable populations. Our participation in this global initiative, alongside the UPU, reflects our desire to take concrete action for universal access to insurance and to protect as many people as possible.”
 
Ms Garance Wattez-Richard, CEO of AXA EssentiALL, said: “AXA strongly believes that posts are ideally positioned to catalyse accessible, attractive and affordable protection to underserved modest-income individuals and small businesses. This collaboration with UPU and CNP Assurances is an essentiall brick in AXA’s ambition to join forces on inclusive insurance with Posts worldwide."