Customer experience

Washington – Thanks in part to technology that automates the credit-verification process within 48 hours, an unlikely contender is entering the mortgage lending business. A division of Citigroup Inc. is piloting a program to offer mortgages to Washington-area residents with "limited credit histories" who "therefore often end up with high-cost or risky home loans." Setting aside $200 million for the program, the division, CitiMortgage, has partnered with Fannie Mae, Washington, D.C. and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., Bloomington, Ill., which together agreed to buy $100 million worth of the loans. To qualify for the program, a person must be in the country legally and have alternate credit lines, such as rental payments, utility bills or a tithing record, that a lender can use to evaluate creditworthiness. Historically, gathering the paperwork to confirm these trade lines has been a laborious process that could take months, which often discouraged potential buyers and hurt their chances of closing a deal, reports The Washington Post. Neighborhood Housing Services, a sister organization of Washington, D.C.-based housing advocacy group NeighborWorks America, will use a system that automates the credit verification process and delivers results to CitiMortgage within 48 hours. The technology evaluates whatever information is available at the national credit bureaus as well as from other sources. To participate in the mortgage program, called R-Home, potential borrowers will first go through credit counseling. One of two District-based nonprofit groups, HomeFree-USA or Manna Mortgage, will work with potential borrowers, vet their qualifications and match them with a loan. If the best loan is with CitiMortgage, then CitiMortgage will fund that loan and sell it to Neighborhood Housing Services, reports the Post. The nonprofit group will then sell the loans to State Farm and Fannie Mae. Sources: The Washington Post, American Banker

New York — Switzerland-based Zurich Financial Services Group named Kevin Dunham as senior vice president and global relationship leader for the Western region of its Global Corporate in North America business unit. Dunham is based in Glendale, Calif., and will manage accounts primarily in the Southwest and Western United States."Kevin's range and depth of experience in all aspects of customer service and relationship management, specifically in this region, make him an ideal candidate for this role," says Mario Vitale, CEO of Zurich Global Corporate in North America. "His focus will be on developing and expanding relationships with our brokers and customers in order to provide them with a differentiated experience, and to deliver Zurich products and services."

Lansing, Mich.–A new Web-based sales and training tool from Jackson National Life Insurance Co. (Jackson) is designed to help simplify the process of selecting an optional living benefit within Jackson’s family of variable annuities. The Living Benefits Selection Center (LBSC) enables registered representatives to get instant, client-approved output based on a client’s profile information after answering a handful of qualifying questions. The tool also features multimedia presentations, fact sheets and side-by-side comparisons of Jackson’s optional living benefits.

Chicago — Destiny Health, a Chicago-based provider of wellness-based health insurance, is launching operations in Missouri, and intends to make its products available across the state. The products are pending approval by the Missouri State Department of Insurance.

Los Angeles - The Automobile Club of Southern California (Auto Club), the largest AAA affiliate in the nation, has selected the ClaimCenter product from Guidewire, San Mateo, Calif. ClaimCenter will consolidate and ultimately replace the company’s existing legacy claims systems, performing end-to-end claims handling functionality for all Auto Club lines of business.

Miami - To deliver on the commitment to promote ecosystem-based innovation and collaboration, Walldorf, Germany-based SAP AG announced that the industry value network (IVN) for insurance will join 13 existing industry-focused IVNs hosted by SAP. The IVN for insurance will bring together independent software vendors, system integrators and SAP to co-innovate with insurers to help them improve profits, customer relationships and their competitive position through effective applications and a flexible IT environment. Members of the IVN for insurance will initially focus on issues facing property/casualty insurers in the North American market in the areas of claims, customer service, sales and distribution, and underwriting and policy processing.Plans for the IVN for insurance currently include key innovative partners in the insurance industry: Adobe, CGI, IBM, MSG, Opentext, Planetsoft and Skywire. The partners and SAP will initially collaborate to bring together industry expertise, knowledge and capabilities in a multi-vendor ecosystem to address the high-value business needs of customers. Customers will be invited to participate in the second phase of the IVN.

New York — New York Life Insurance Co. was the No. 1 seller of fixed immediate annuities in the first quarter 2007, according to LIMRA International, U.S. Individual Annuity Sales Survey, Fixed Immediates, First Quarter 2007 results. (Fixed Immediates include Fixed Period Annuities.) New York Life's guaranteed lifetime income annuity sales rose 45% in 2006 on the strength of its product suite and distribution, and continued on that pace in first quarter 2007.

Jersey City, N.J. — Insurance Services Office Inc. (ISO), Jersey City, N.J., is working with United States Department of Agriculture/Rural Development in a joint endeavor to provide communities with information regarding the Community Loan and Grant Programs that are available through USDA/Rural Development and the Rural Housing Service.

Austin, Texas — Lombardi Software Inc., an Austin, Texas-based business process management software provider, has been named a finalist for customer service excellence in the 2007 Greater Austin Business Awards. Lombardi is named as a finalist in the large company award category.

Denver - Colorado Casualty's appointed agents in Arizona and New Mexico are the first in the Liberty Mutual Group member's six-state territory to be equipped with Commercial IQ, the company's, Web-based technology for commercial lines quoting, binding and policy issuance.Commercial IQ is designed to deliver an automated underwriting process with expanded, yet simplified, eligibility criteria, and a sophisticated pricing system with multiple price points, which results in fewer referrals, less intervention, the best price up front and quicker policy issuance. Commercial IQ's "Quick Quote" feature enables agents instant access to a faster online quote with minimal entry of information, according to Liberty Mutual Group. Agents also can select the most appropriate product for a commercial risk using Commercial IQ's SmartNav, the pre-qualification tool that requires only a business class code and responses to a few basic eligibility questions to best meet customers' needs.

Armonk, N.Y. and Ottawa - IBM and Cognos have entered into a definitive agreement for IBM to acquire Cognos, a publicly held company based in Ottawa, in an all-cash transaction at a price of approximately $5 billion or $58 per share, with a net transaction value of $4.9 billion. The acquisition is subject to Cognos shareholder approval, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. It is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008.The acquisition of Cognos supports IBM's Information on Demand strategy, a cross-company initiative announced on Feb. 16, 2006 that combines IBM's strength in information integration, content and data management and business consulting services to unlock the business value of information, according to IBM. Integrating Cognos, the 23rd IBM acquisition in support of its Information on Demand strategy, will enable new business insights to be delivered to a broader set of people across an organization, beyond the traditional users of business intelligence.

Pittsburgh – Looking for something special for a special someone this holiday season? Highmark Inc. has come up with a novel marketing idea - the Highmark Healthcare Visa Gift Card.

Needham, Mass. – New research from Needham, Mass.-based TowerGroup Inc. finds that in today’s global business model, electronic commerce is no longer a “nice-to-have” capability, but a necessity, yet the insurance industry continues to hold onto the traditional paper-based, wet-signature contract execution model.

Los Angeles – In the 1980s, Ronald Katz secured approximately 50 patents related to what would otherwise be considered a rather simple solution: technology that links a telephone to a computer. And if you operate a call center that uses telephony integration or interactive voice applications patented by Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing L.P., you are probably familiar with the power of his technology—and the might of the licensing behind it.

Schaumburg, Ill. - Commercial P&C carrier Zurich is targeting the needs of technology customers by providing a range of coverages designed specifically for mid-sized businesses. Zurich 's focus is on the creators and builders of technology products rather than end-users.

Chicago - Global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings Ltd., London, has acquired Chicago-based InsuranceNoodle, an Internet distributor of small business insurance.

Chicago — Risk management provider Aon Corp. and Arup, a London-based global multidisciplinary engineering and consulting firm, today announced a strategic alliance that brings to the marketplace an unprecedented pre- and post-loss consulting service that offers clients an independent, global catastrophic risk management solution.

Minneapolis - The Allianz Income Management Services division of Allianz Life Insurance Co. released its "PONG" annuity product, the Minneapolis-based insurer announced. PONG, broken down liberally, spells "P" - paychecks forever (lifetime income annuity payments), "O" - opportunity for a pay raise each and every year (payouts indexed to the S&P 500), "N" - never less income than what you start with, and "G" - guaranteed return of remaining premium to the beneficiary upon death, plus a 10% bonus (if taken as income). The PONG analogy, quite naturally, comes from the early and first real video game that helped spawn a revolution.It was quite simple and direct, much like the AIMS product, claims the company, which really goes under the name of Command Provider.

Eatontown, N.J. - Quaker Special Risk, Eatontown, N.J. , launched a new homeowners policy coverage enhancement.The "Protecting Your Family" option provides medical expense, miscellaneous expense and reward payment reimbursement related to incidents of home invasion, stalking or car jacking. The coverage is exclusively available to new and current customers of Quaker Special Risk's High Valued Homeowners Program.

Washington — The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA), a national association of independent insurance agents and brokers, released its annual Best Practices Study, which includes the new Rule of 20 statistic, which provides a quick means of calculating whether or not an agency creates value for its shareholders.