Core systems

With economy leveling, carriers are opening new offices nationwide.

Insurers plotting mobile payment plans would be wise to watch what unfolds as Apple decides the iPhone's future as a mobile payment device.

The advisory organization says this is the industry's first standardized plan for rating homeowners insurance by individual perils.

Business intelligence, analytics and performance management prove less cyclical than other software areas, Gartner says.

Although Democrats and Republicans continue to disagree over whether talks ever really broke down, lawmakers from both sides say they're making progress bridging the gap.

With the health care debate receding, President Obama has stepped up his efforts to aid passage of comprehensive financial services regulatory reform. While most of the reform measures are aimed squarely at banks, the breadth of the proposed reforms may well encompass many activities currently performed by insurers. Indeed, while insurers may have avoided the purview of a proposed consumer financial products regulator, the issue of whether large insurers will have to help fund a bailout mechanism for systemically risky institutions remains an open question.

A report from the Insurance Research Council concludes the current cost shifting means significant costs for the property/casualty insurance industry.

Reaching out to touch someone via the Yellow Pages and other conventional marketing tools has been rendered ineffective as insurers attract customers using LinkedIn, Facebook.

Making its auto insurance application available on Google’s mobile Android smartphones, Progressive sees immediate uptick in Web site traffic.

Industry weighs in as legislators seek long-term fix to the troubled National Flood Insurance Plan.

The competitive marketplace is a challenge for all lines of insurance, but a new report from New York-based Novarica notes that the workers comp line is particularly susceptible to ongoing pressure.

Cambridge, Mass.-based Pegasystems Inc., a provider of business process management (BPM) software, has acquired Cupertino, Calif.-based Chordiant Software, Inc., a provider of claims management and business acquisition software to the insurance industry.

Pharmacists Mutual pointed to the 2009 H1N1 flu outbreak as the catalyst for seeking a unified communications system.

Sixteen percent of Americans online are responsible for 80% of brand impressions in online social media; insurance marketers should take heed, Forrester says.

RiskRover records addresses and GPS coordinates, takes photographs and translates the info into risk models all on a mobile device.

With consumers using digital tools to search for information before making an insurance purchase, insurers must plan accordingly, a new report says.

The rising economic tide, a modest inflationary environment, and larger underwriting losses in 2010 will lead to rate-firming for the property/casualty industry, a new study from Hartford, Conn.-based Conning Research & Consulting finds.

A.M. Best upgrades Grain Dealers Mutual Insurance and affirms Missouri Employers Mutual Insurance, while Moody’s affirms Unitrin’s senior debt ratings.

AIG may pursue Goldman Sachs on losses from $6 billion of insurance deals similar to those that prompted the SEC's recent fraud charges against the bank.

NAIC, ISO and NICN announce streamlined reporting process.