Customer experience

Insurance revenue reported to the Federal Reserve by the nation's bank holding companies grew by $7.3 billion in 2004 to $40.8 billion, 22% higher than 2003, according to an analysis by the American Bankers Insurance Association (ABIA), Washington, D.C.

Quincy, Mass.--eStudentInsurance.com, a service of the Edvisors Network announced this month a new partnership with Worldwide Insurance Services. The Edvisors Network, a multi-national education services company, teamed up with Worldwide Insurance Services, a global leader in travel insurance, to create a new insurance policy for students traveling anywhere in the world. Global Student Health plans from eStudentInsurance.com are designed specifically to benefit international and domestic students by offering optimal affordable coverage, anywhere in the world.

With industry research indicating that many individuals don't understand their annuity and life insurance needs, the responsibility falls on insurers to provide product research and needs-analysis to customers.While meeting with a financial advisor is one way to educate customers, many carriers, such as New York Life, are enhancing their Web capabilities to reach customers directly. And their efforts are being noticed.

In a move to strengthen the services it provides to sponsors of defined contribution plans such as 401(k) plans, Nationwide Financial Services Inc. in April purchased a company that provides third-party money management services to plan participants.The company, Registered Investment Advisors Services Inc. (RIA), which is based in Dallas, has been providing investment management services since June 2002 to plans that are part of Nationwide's Best of America Group Pension Series programs. Based on that experience, Nationwide executives say tighter integration with RIA Services will provide plan participants with expert advice on how to manage their retirement funds, and it will enable Nationwide to expand these services to other plans.

Life Settlement Insights has launched what the company claims is the life insurance settlement industry's first online exchange. Called LifeX (www.life-x.com) institutional buyers will be able to electronically submit bids for an individual's unneeded life insurance policy in an open-forward auction format.

U.S. property/casualty insurers are expected to pay homeowners and businesses an estimated $2.1 billion for insured property-loss claims from eight catastrophes in the first quarter, according to preliminary estimates by ISO's Property Claim Services (PCS) unit.

McCamish Systems L.L.C., an Atlanta-based BPO service provider to the life and annuity market, is now offering a broad range of agent management services on a business process outsourcing model (BPO). Previously, the company offered this service only to its life insurance and annuity policy administration clients, but it now offers these same services on a standalone basis.

COLUMBUS, Ohio--Nationwide Insurance and Washington D.C.-based ID Theft Assist are joining forces to offer ground-breaking identity theft protection and recovery service that surpasses IDtheft policies currently on the market.

MISSOULA, Mont.--RemoteScan Corporation, the makers of network connectivity software for document scanners and digital cameras, today announced the release of RemoteScan for Insurance Agents.

SIMSBURY, Conn. - The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., for the third consecutive year, is the No. 1 seller of variable life insurance, posting a year-over-year sales increase of more than 28 percent in 2004.