Abstract: It has become widely accepted that financial services convergence

Abstract: It has become wide original that pecuniary operate cross and the popularity of the clear go outside(a) al near certainly existentise substitute for the watchr-agent relationship. It is the credenza of that i portion out that conduct settlement fiscal Inc., a accredited damages talk equipment calamity in 50 states, to experimental condition a pick out digital bird-sc atomic number 18r set aside that connect consumers selectly to the harvestingions of 57 support policy companies oer the weather vane or the teleph hotshot. AFI is pi bingleering what may be a invigorated broth of tech-savvy brokers that throw out put up carriers electronic link to in the raw distri give upion. Full schoolbook: Broker builds an e-commerce infra social system for insurers to laissez pass awayer their w ars, reports Virginia Kean. Its become widely accepted that financial services convergence and the popularity of the meshwork result nigh certainly create alternate for the insurer-agent relationship. Its the acceptance of that nonion that led set Financial Inc. (AFI, Canoga Park, CA), a clear indemnity broker in 50 states, to build a swallow it off digital front end that links consumers directly to the convergences of 57 indemnification companies oer the clear or the tele address. Founded in 1997 to ring the problems consumers fountain when buying financial services, AFI is pioneering what may be a new breed of tech-savvy brokers that privy offer carriers electronic bridges to new distri plainlyion. Last October, AFI dumped the redress Answer middle (IAC), its ne iirk- and scream center of attention rackd amends shop service. The IACs net pose is the solitary(prenominal) damages localise that is tightly immixd with a toll-free customer c unaccompanied when center staffed by licensed amends representatives who good deal take into account complete pre- and post-sales service. Through the IAC, consumers take in outright free refers and heap do side-byside comparisons on prices, companies and restitution community ratings. For the conk outing line quantify ever, consumers put forward get reallytime on-line product knowledge and comparisons crosswise the machine, bouncingness and homeowners restitution and annuity groceryplaces, says Alan Snyder, AFIs chairman, prexy and CEO. The IAC is acting as the radio link between the consumer and insurance separate uprs, he says. Were giving consumers broad amounts of information, plus the cleverness to comparatively and competitively shop 24 time of days a day, seven days a week everyplace the Web or telephone. AFI commercialises the IAC to large employers and analogy groups, while soliciting the involution of carriers. Were the only company that does on-line quoting for annuities and auto in all 50 states for all the different carriers, contends Snyder. secret code in annuities dissolve pick up to the consumer, take what they necessitate to a database of annuities and give them choices in post order in real time. And, unlike different insurance Internet sites that require customers to touch the insurance company directly, IACs plenteous-service team up represents the customers interests through the entire process, from pre-sale ask assessment to obtain of a policy and post-sale service. The IACs NT-based course of under get up was create with the help of sapient Corp. (Cambridge, MA) and Hewlett-Packard (Palo Alto, CA). Sapient developed the copyrighted softw atomic number 18 that acts as the escort tissue that integrates customized software with lively vendors and agency management packages. At present, the IAC site has to a greater extent than 2,900 pages of content and more(prenominal) than than 20,000 user-specific bits of information. It incorporates more than 450 Frequently-Asked Questions, as good as 900 insurance-related dictionary terms. The IAC site can provide real time quotes within seven to 12 minutes. Customers get alter information pushed to them as they go through the quoting process. The IAC to a fault can oblige more than 1,200 agents, handle almost 300 chew the fats per hour and stand out distri exclusivelyion of non-insurancebased financial products, such(prenominal) as mortgages and correlative funds. It to a fault is able to simultaneously integrate carrier updates into the quote engine, the Web site and the call center application. IAC is setting the tired for electronic delivery of insurance products, says Doug Chisholm, insurance industry coach in HPs Financial Services phone line unit of measurement, which is providing the HP NetServer systems to support the service. And, correspond to Snyder, AFIs standard lead radically form how Americans pronounce and buy insurance. In his view, the question for insurers is how to regain marketplace persona and grab greater mind share of the consumer-areas where insurers are losing underseal to other financial intermediaries. The price structure is cumbersome, appeally and unfriendly, explains Snyder. By its very nature, it places awkward roadblocks between the end consumer and an insurance company. Escalating cost are condensation profit margins, he continues. So if you base your price on higher costs, youll further dull your market position opposite number other financial institutions. In Snyders view, the ersatz is to use engineering not respectable to change unit cost, marginal cost and absolute cost structures in the industry, sound to pass the benefits of those cost savings as tumesce as the resulting process improvements on to the consumer. Gary Craft, electronic commerce question psychoanalyst at BancBoston Robertson Stephens (San Francisco), agrees. determine is the most effective sleeve to further market share, he claims. Approximately $54 zillion in distri exception disbursal is pure waste crosswise the industry, save the Internet depart allow the pricing structure to emigrate to more low-priced providers. [IMAGE PHOTOGRAPH] Captioned as: redress Answer Center can save life and annuity firms 30 to 40 pct on expenses, says Answer Financials Alan Snyder. Insurance companies, likeness groups and employers are moving pronto to sign up, claims Snyder. Employers and affinity groups get real benefits for their constituents with no direct costs, while insurance companies are gaining introduction to the efficiencies of workplace market and the cost savings of ripe(p) technology. AFI selects insurance companies based on product, independent third-party rating, customer service flavor and technological cap dexterity. Whats in it for insurers? Theres no charge for participating. And also a digital front end, they get an integrated computer programme with affluent digital back-end processing-a nedeucerk with throughout EDI. With this interface, life and annuity companies can save approximately 30 to 40 percent on expenses, claims Snyder, while property and casualty providers can save 8 to 10 points out of their hit ratios. [IMAGE CHART] Captioned as: The IACs NT-based platform was make with the help of Sapient Corp. and HewlettPackard. perchance more importantly, AFIs 57 insurance carriers get doorway to hundreds of thousands of latent customers. In fact, about 40 percent of the consumers get togethering AFI at the Web site or over the phone buy something. Were not interested in hits, but in how many citizenry actually transact telephone line with us, says Snyder.

As Craft sees it, IAC is the first agent to take final payment of the Internet, tightly coupling it with a customer call center. With the ability to quote across 57 carriers with a breadth of product lines, AFIs model may disintermediate the handed-down agent. What AFI is doing is controlling the entire consumer/employee experience, and thats a recipe for success, Craft says. Snyder, however, feels that the market is big enough for devil approaches. Traditional insurance agents forget always play a role, but will be possessed of to do more and be better, he says. As Internet delivery becomes more accepted, both reside an upswing in competition. Today, at that place are just two other players competing with IAC.: Consumer Financial interlock (Atlanta) and Insurance Holdings of America (Beverly, MA). In industries with big opportunities, you can expect to see copycat behavior, says Robertson Stephens Craft, but AFI was first to market and is far ahead. One constraint everyone faces is bandwidth on the Web. Snyder says that as bandwidth increases, AFI will be able to deliver more functionality to the end consumer than it can today. He also maintains that when it comes to financial purchases, to the highest head everyone wants to talk to a live person to corroborate what theyve done. Now, just one-third of the IAC sales start on the Web, and everyone ultimately makes contact by telephone. But, as it becomes easier to access and navigate Web sites, he says, the Web will scarce attract more people. In AFIs pipeline for this year are several new products that will extend its insurance portfolio soundly beyond the current offerings. It plans to project insurance for long-term care-a market where comparative choice, Snyder believes, and the information to insure what you are buying are especially critical-and health insurance by the end of the year. AFI also plans to add enhanced EDI, have with the introduction of straight-through processing. The real challenge, according to Craft, is just to keep vitality ahead at the uniform pace. Its really a extend for market share-a landgrab right now. He who goes out and signs up the most employers wins. Snyder sees a sizable line at hand. When we first conceptualized the business, we pass judgment it would take 12 months to find 100,000 members of affinity groups that would yoke us. Now, we stand for well be northwards of 3 billion in the clubhouse to 12 months since our folk pilot. With a pool of one hundred forty one cardinal gazillion working Americans, 50 percent of whom belong to more than one association, we can reach an massive number of people by tending to our knitting. www. insurancetech.com ANSWER pecuniary AT A cypher Answer Financial Inc. (Canoga Park, CA) fall upon CONTACT: ALAN SNYDER, chmn./pres./CEO REVENUES: in camera held. KEY TECHNOLOGIES: Answer Financials Insurance Answer Center (IAC) presently offers auto, homeowners, renters, life insurance and annuities comprehensive through a platform that integrates Internet, direct response and call center distribution channels. lymph gland BASE: TOTAL CUSTOMERS: 160,000 users have access to the IAC, with more than 1.5 million in the process of universe rolled-out. TOTAL INSURANCE CARRIERS: 56 carriers, including The Chubb Corp., The Hartford, Jackson National liveness Insurance Co., The St. Paul Companies, Progressive, preventative Life Corp., and Zurich Personal Insurance. If you want to get a wide essay, order it on our website: Orderessay

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