Digital Platforms

Treasury secretary testified before Congress yesterday, saying that the bailout will show a "positive return."

It's illegal to text while driving in most U.S. states. Yet a study by researchers at the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) that tracked four states’ claims activities before and after such laws were passed finds no reductions in crashes after laws take effect.

New report details principles of document management in insurance.

Guidewire ClaimCenter enabled Everest National to capture more and better data, and provide better operational reports and on-line management tools.

After procedural hurdles held up the vote for much of the day, the House reconvened in the evening to settle the terms.

New life insurance premiums sold through banks in Q3 2010 hit $512 million, up from $225 million in Q3 2008.

Regulatory, economic uncertainty cloud life and annuity carriers’ growth potential, making delivery of new products, cost cutting now mandatory, notes Ernst & Young report.

Gartner report offers new strategies for IT leaders.

Insurers may be interested to note the results of the study released by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.

Five severe weather events, one winter-based storm, two earthquakes and two floods comprised the top 10 insured loss events, says Aon Benfield

Chronicling insurers' continuing challenges combating auto theft, Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) today released its annual list of most frequently stolen vehicles.

Farmers survey cites Madison, Wis., as most secure large metropolitan area in United States.

Rep. Barney Frank plans to defend the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act from Republicans, and he made it clear he's willing to get personal.

Study of online acquisition methodologies notes lack of swift follow-up, other inefficiencies hampering insurance carriers.

The current mind-set of most P&C insurers in India is to utilize technology as a tool to realize efficiencies and streamline operations at the same time, keeping the focus on growth and reduction in costs, according to a new report from Celent. The sector is expected to invest close to US$1.43 billion in technology by 2014.

Health insurers fared poorly in annual ASCI customer satisfaction survey, rating only marginally better than airlines, newspapers and the government.

A FINRA survey finds “a significant disparity” in the general financial literacy of Americans on a state-by-state basis.

The payment stems from a derivative suit filed by investors against executives and directors.

Fitch affirms all AXA entities; S&P lowers credit rating on Manulife Financial, rates Berkshire Hathaway’s senior notes; A.M. Best comments on Aetna; Moody’s affirms WellPoint, Munich Re.

The modern-day searching and buying patterns used by consumer for insurance are shifting, and insurance companies cannot rely on traditional channel strategies to reach them, according to a study released by IBM today.

Towers Watson survey says insurers are increasingly employing predictive modeling as rates continue to be weighed down by excess capacity.

The measure advanced Monday evening, with 45 Democrats and 37 Republicans voting to invoke cloture.

Virtualization and solid state disks are the next most important in terms of overall impact going forward, study says.

Insurers, banks, credit unions and more affected by partnership.

Claiming that the “dispute is not simply about regulating the business of insurance,” federal judge blocks implementation of key provision of health care reform.

Korea’s largest non-life insurer’s goal is to use predictive models to enhance fraud detection processes.

CSC has launched a four-stage, pragmatic program for financial services firms to use cloud services to gain flexibility and agility in their computing environments. CSC says it is leading financial services firms to the cloud, without jeopardizing high-performance, security and compliance requirements. The staged approach is described by CSC as progressing from early use of low-risk, horizontal shared services to deployment of ancillary applications, and then a cloud-enablement of mission-critical applications, all in parallel with the introduction of unique, cloud-only functions.

A culture of complacency hampers information security efforts, and as a result, sensitive corporate data is vulnerable to tampering and theft.

Carrier will implement Detica NetReveal in their general insurance business to combat claims fraud.

Members of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) held a special interim election during a conference call. Louisiana Insurance Commissioner James Donelon was elected NAIC VP and Illinois Insurance Director Michael McRaith was elected NAIC secretary-treasurer.

John Kim also will become New York Life’s chief investment officer

For younger employees, the possibility of an enjoyable retirement is dwindling.

Gartner research points to increased investment, though many still won’t see ROI.

Top companies in our survey grind down costs by consolidating IT and rationalizing processes. They’re growing faster as well.

Insurers that outsource the IT and administration of policies underwritten years ago can improve customer satisfaction, lower costs, and even reduce capital requirements.

Financial legislation requires surplus lines producers to participate in a national database for licensing and renewals.

The highest-priority initiatives continue to be policy admin and BI, with claims, agent portals and commissions also of importance.

The top 25 life/health insurance writers continue to set the pace for the larger U.S. industry, which saw a 2.6% increase in nine-month net premiums written to $424.2 billion. The increase is the first since year-end 2008, according to A.M. Best, which released its list of Top 25 U.S. Life/Health writers today.

New Celent report studies how carriers can maximize ROI of business process management technology.

Research firm believes maturing cloud technologies and server virtualization will dominate enterprise infrastructure software and initiatives in coming year.

With insurers storing vast amounts of potentially sensitive or embarrassing information, a risk mitigation culture must pervade the enterprise.

In its plan to recapitalize, AIG hopes to break ties to the U.S. government.

Product to offer better management of its portfolio of insurance-linked securities.

For those not on thin-client hookups, the message is clear: Know what applications are on your systems and how they work.

While there's a sense of optimism surrounding the greater IT jobs market, insurance IT pros face much gloomier prospects.

Just 15% of health care CIOs surveyed were confident they could meet the April 1, 2011 deadline to qualify for meaningful use incentives.

New research identifies virtualization mistakes.

Insurers may be interested in keeping up with the ongoing challenges banks face in enabling consumer phone transactions.

Rep. Spencer Bachus says he will revisit Dodd-Frank to remove any undue burdens on taxpayers.

New reports list P&C, life and health insurers with highest quarterly sales growth.

Inflated storage and towing fees, excessive medical treatment and auto glass fraud the most scrutinized, says NICB

The forecast for 2011 includes only slight premium growth for the industry amidst a continuing moderate economic recovery, Fitch says.