Chris McMahon

As a reinsurer, Swiss Re typically doesn’t have direct access to typical customer data but analytics technology is critical to the company’s underwriting of complex treaties.

An overwhelming majority of insurance executives say their organization's success is closely tied to their ability to innovate, but nearly as many say they are already running to keep up with their day-to-day requirements and lack the skills necessary to drive innovation, according to a report and survey from KPMG International.

Insurers have strived to keep pace with consumer technologies and ever more-sophisticated expectations around the customer experience, and now carriers like USAA are banding together with Google Compare and other insurance aggregation sites to offer consumers a new way to shop for and purchase auto insurance.

Westfield Insurance has selected Majesco’s Distribution Management application to consolidate and replace multiple legacy distribution-management systems, Majesco said.

Professional services company Towers Watson has agreed to acquire Brovada, a Canadian insurance technology business best known for the BrovadaOne platform, an application for integrating and automating interactions between insurers, and their agents and brokers.

Insurance software and consulting firm Majesco and Deloitte Consulting LLP are extending their partnership, which is intended to help insurers implement Majesco’s core solutions and realize system consolidations, improved flexibility, quicker response to market and regulatory changes, and increased speed-to-market for new products.

Insurance core systems technology company Insurity Inc. now offers integration with Social Media Risk Scoring, predictive analytics technology from tech firm Social intelligence.

Swiss insurer Basler Versicherung AG Schweiz has implemented Guidewire’s PolicyCenter and BillingCenter, as well as Guidewire’s Client Data Management and Rating Management applications, to support its property line of business, Guidewire said.

Life insurer Security Mutual Life Insurance Co. of New York has selected BizEquity to provide a private labeled version of BizEquity's Advisor Office business valuation service.

The Snapshot mobile app will monitor and measure driving data, including time of day, mileage and hard braking automatically, and give drivers personalized information, including a one-to-five-star rating at the end of each trip, a data summary, map of their drive and tailored driving tips.

As insurance telematics gains momentum with consumers, the technology has become ever more sophisticated and reliant on customer outlays for smartphone capabilities and OEM automotive technology. But is that fair to lower income consumers?

The Swiss telematics technology firm announced that its Telematics Analyzer now can integrate with any back-end system

The application includes a flow of claims data and information with the insurer’s claims administrator, CatManDo Inc.

The three new features are intended to enable deeper insights around driver behavior and profiles, the company said.

The app monitors and scores driver or rider behavior and the option of personalized insurance quotes based on their scores.

The connected car technology company has launched its NSpire platform, which the company describes as a set of tools, modules and programs designed to support customized telematics strategies.

With Progressive Insurance’s recent patent loss to Liberty Mutual Insurance, insurers are running out of reasons for not pursuing leading edge technologies, such as telematics and usage-based insurance, industry experts say, and recent changes in patent law are favoring those who challenge patent holders.

Allstate’s Drivewise Mobile application now features Allstate Rewards, which safe drivers now can use to earn points for deals on merchandise, gift cards and local offers, regardless of whether they have an insurance policy with Allstate.

The UK-based Insurance aggregator has launched a point-of-quote fraud detection and prevention service that combines its customer and quote database with Iovation’s Risk Solution, which assesses the likelihood of based on the current and past behavior of a smartphone, tablet or laptop.

John Vasturia was named president of Munich Re America’s specialty markets and a member of the insurer’s U.S. P&C executive board. Jill Beggs has replaced Vasturia as head of new strategic markets, which includes Munich Re America’s innovation practice, corporate communications and the U.S. P&C cross-platform team.