In a first for the vehicle telematics, tracking and recovery industry, Netstar, a subsidiary of Altron, has launched an on-line Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme.
Netstar, one of the pioneers in the vehicle tracking industry in South Africa, has created a CPD Hub that will allow financial services providers to effortlessly fulfil their CPD requirements by completing on-line training courses in the specific applications of telematics and vehicle recovery to insurance and the financial sector.
“It’s our way of supporting the professional development of our partners in the industry,” says Belinda Felix, general manager for insurance markets at Netstar. As part of this support campaign, Netstar is also sponsoring the publication of digital magazines and a CPD framework of key industry publications.
Continuing Professional Development (CPD) training is an initiative by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) to ensure that financial services providers (FSPs) are up to date with current best practice.
“Fulfilling CPD requirements is not always straightforward, with time constraints and other challenges. With the easily accessible CPD Hub, we wanted to make it as simple as possible for our partners to get their CPD accreditation,” says Felix.
In creating the CPD Hub, Netstar partnered with the Graduate Institute of Financial Sciences (GIFS), a leading financial services education provider in South Africa. GIFS assisted in building the platform and ensured that the content on the CPD Hub fulfills CPD-accreditation requirements.
“The global health crisis has thrust us all into a remote-first reality,” explains GIFS CEO, Dr. Kershen Pillay. “In the financial services education space, this rapid digitization fuses ideas and innovation to provide learners with a safe, credible on-line learning environment that ensures the continuation of knowledge-exchange. We are excited to work with Netstar to roll out their CPD offering.”
Enlarging on the need for this, Felix says the telematics and recovery industry will see continued expansion into other financial services markets beyond insurance. “There will be a shift in the use of telematics data, which will become crucial in mitigating risks other than theft and hijacking,” she notes.
Netstar has various alternative business solutions aimed at managing individual and pool risks, which can improve client claims experiences and help insurers retain good clients, she explains.
“Telematics is still being underutilised,” says Felix. “In future, the technology can, and will, play a much larger role in the way insurers and partners go about their business, particularly in the way they price products and rate clients,” she concludes.
Potential applicants can visit www.gifs.africa/netstar-cpd/ where they can fill in a simple form. If their applications are successful, they will be directed to the Hub, where they can access CPD content, which consists of on-line articles followed by multiple-choice exams. CPD hours are automatically logged and CPD certificates will be emailed to successful candidates.
“Our insurance partners play a massive and crucial role in ensuring our clients get the best advice and products which is why we’ve thrown our weight behind this CPD campaign,” says Felix. “By supporting the professional and personal growth of our insurance partners, we support the growth of the entire industry. This is our way of saying thanks.”
Registrations for the sponsored CPD programme are limited to 750 applicants and those who want to further their CPD training after having completed the sponsored CPD programme can do so at subsidised rates.
