Allenbrook Inc., Brunswick, Maine, and Blue Cod Technologies Inc., Worchester, Mass., have signed a strategic marketing and reseller agreement. As a result, Allenbrook's Phoenix, a policy management system that handles rating, claims handling, billing, reporting and printing, will be bundles with Blue Cod's suite of work management and customer relationship management products.AscendantOne Inc., Nashua, N.H., has forged marketing agreements with Dallas-based Docucorp International and Toronto-based InSystems. AscendantOne provides front-office insurance technology. Docucorp provides enterprise information solutions. InSystems provides document automation and insurance portals for financial services companies.
Chicago-based Magnify, a provider of predictive analytic and decisioning software, and Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC), El Segundo, Calif., have formed a strategic alliance. CSC will add Predictive Targeting System, Magnify's insurance claim fraud detection technology, to its suite of property/casualty cost containment products and services. The two companies will also collaborate to develop new solutions for the insurance market.
Nekema Inc., Jersey City, N.J., and NetRate Systems Inc., Okemos, Mich., will provide property/casualty insurers private-label, real-time, online rating, quoting and binding for agents. According to the companies, Nekema's InsurePoint system includes a robust interview engine that generates "smart apps" so carriers receive only completed applications that are nearly 100% quotable. Once completed, the application is rated through NetRate's rating engine. The data is then transmitted to the carriers' backend systems via XML, AL3 or ACORD/IAA-compliant messaging systems for policy processing and issuance.
McCracken Insurance Solutions (MIS), Billerica, Mass., will develop a next-generation agency management system based on the Dragon platform provided by OneShield Inc., Woburn, Mass. The new system will be designed to replace legacy agency management systems and will support personal lines, commercial lines and employee benefits. It will be browser-based and include underwriting and submissions, policy management, integrated e-mail and word processing, accounting and billing and claims reporting. MIS plans to release the system in the third quarter this year.
Pearl River, N.Y.-based ACORD is redesigning its Web site, located at www.acord.com with Atlanta-based insurance e-business provider ebix.com Inc.. The next generation of the site will emphasize improvements to the overall look and feel, enhanced navigational capability as well as more dynamic content and functionality. ebix.com has been working with ACORD for several months on the project, and expects to begin rolling out the new site, in stages, starting this month at the annual ACORD conference in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Insurance Services Office Inc. (ISO), Jersey City, N.J., and Seisint Inc., Boca Raton, Fla., have a licensing agreement to provide insurers' claims, special investigative units and subrogation personnel access to public records and data for in-depth searches on individuals and businesses. Under the agreement, insurers choosing the optional ISO service can use Seisint's Accurint family of data products through ClaimSearch, ISO's all-claims antifraud system.
Access Data Corp., a Pittsburgh, Pa.-based firm that provides managed hosting services for the financial services industry, acquired the financial services practice of Boston-based Atlantic Research and Consulting. Atlantic Research provides field research and tabulation services in syndicated and customer research to leading financial services industry client, including Banknorth Group, BISYS, Pioneer Funds and Lipper.
The online technology of AnnuityNet Inc., Leesburg, Va. will now be available through Vision, a portal for financial advisors from DST Systems Inc., Kansas City, Mo. The two firms will integrate their software and align their marketing strategies for products aimed at the same market. DST's Vision is an interactive Web site for financial planners that provides customer account and contract information and real-time transactions. AnnuityNet's application and workflow wizards are used to sell and service variable annuities.
Philadelphia-based The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Co. has implemented an interactive training program from WebEx Communications Inc., San Jose, Calif. WebEx's switch-based communications infrastructure supports interactive data, voice and video communications and will enable Penn Mutual to hold interactive training sessions and sales meetings through a standard browser. Penn Mutual recently used WebEx to roll out a new agency management system to more than 50 field offices nationwide. The company was able to introduce this new system in six weeks, instead of the numerous months it would have taken with the traditional approach of traveling to each office.
Greensboro, N.C.-based Jefferson Pilot Financial plans to deploy a Web-based program designed to support its executive benefits market initiatives. Through implementation of Deferral+, a program offered by Atlanta-based Magner.network, financial advisers affiliated with JP Financial will be able to more effectively place JP Financial products in the area of non-qualified deferred compensation and Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (SERP) programs.
The World Bank Group, one of the world's largest sources of development assistance, has joined as an affiliate member of LOMA, an international association of 1,250 insurance and financial services companies. Established in 1945, The World Bank Group provided $17.3 billion in loans to its client countries last year.
Insurance Technology Solutions Inc., a Torrance, Calif.-based provider of Web-based insurance technology, has developed a compatible interface with the Internet Policy Production System (iPPS) from Dallas-based Docucorp International. With this new real-time module, insurance agents and companies using iPPS can rate, quote, bind and produce insurance policies.
San Francisco-based Esurance Inc. and HP Employees Federal Credit Union (HPCU), Palo Alto, Calif., have partnered to provide HPCU members with online access to personal automobile insurance. The partnerships will include joint marketing of Esurance's auto insurance services through offline and online venues. HPCU members can access the service through their investment subsidiary, Addision Avenue Financial Partners.
