Digital distribution

The insurer will use the platform to process Covered California Exchange enrollment and billing, and meet the demands of new members.

iPipeline, a provider of on-demand marketing, selling and processing technology for insurers, distributors and producers, announced American Equity Investment Life Insurance Co. has selected the Content Partner platform to aggregate and distribute annuity product information and forms to 1,200 distributors via the iPipeline distributor network.

Americans are relying on technology to help with their personal finance needs, but most (60 percent) use it to simplify and automate financial tasks such as banking and bill payment, according to a recent survey conducted by Northwestern Mutual's financial literacy website, TheMint.org.

Less than a month after releasing a report that pointed out the soaring sales of cyber insurance, Marsh announced today that Matt McCabe, a former congressional advisor on cyber security, has joined Marsh’s growing Network Security and Privacy Practice as an SVP. In his new role, McCabe will be responsible for advising clients on emerging cyber security trends and issues and ways in which they can address their unique data and privacy needs.

Online billing system, developed with Guidewire, offers multiple payment options, combined billing and other features intended to build relationships between agents and customers.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has proposed banning force-placed insurance commissions in a blow to banks and other mortgage servicers.

Dovetail Insurance, supplier of cloud-based insurance product-delivery services for P&C insurers, MGAs and brokers, has acquired NetComp Insurance, a growing web-based distributor of workers’ compensation insurance.

In 2012, banks sold $1.6 billion in life insurance premium, the second highest annual production level in the history of the bank channel. The bank’s record year was 2010, when it sold $1.8 billion in life insurance.

The three insurers join Aetna and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois in offering products through the private insurance exchange.

The insurance industry in Puerto Rico had a compound-annual-growth-rate of 5.8 percent between 2007 and 2011, despite a contracting national economy, according to a report from Timetric, a provider of online data, analysis and advisory services on the financial services industry. However, opportunities for further foreign investment and sustained growth in Puerto Rico are limited, due to the high rate of insurance penetration, according to Timetric’s “The Insurance Industry in Puerto Rico, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2017.”

Growth strategies aimed at baby boomers may be losing their effectiveness among younger consumers, as the population becomes more racially and ethnically diverse, according to “Life-Annuity Consumer Markets Annual,” from Conning. Additionally, generational attitudes toward financial services products and technology are not only different, but evolving.

National Life Group has selected iGO e-App to automate the marketing, selling and processing of its diversified life and annuity products.

Cyber coverage levels also increased according to the report. Across industries, limits purchased in 2012 averaged $16.8 million, a 20-percent increase over 2011. Communication, media and technology companies led other industries in terms of average limits purchased, at $33.4 million, and the rate of increase, which was nearly 36 percent.

With persistently low interest rates continuing to dampen profitability, group life/annuity/voluntary benefit insurers are investing in benefit and policy administration systems, customer and agent portals, and easy enrollment capabilities to increase profits, according to “Business and Technology Trends: Group Life/Annuities/Voluntary Benefits,” a report from Novarica.

Armed with analytics, insurers should be able to make better business decisions more quickly and mobilize teams to connect better with customers, leading to success and growth, according to PwC.

While connectivity improves, conflicting financial priorities and rekeying data is still a problem for many insurers and agents, SMA finds.

Critical illness insurance covers more diseases than in the past and is increasingly marketed as a financial protection product.

Building IT/business alignment into business operations and a sense of urgency are two keys to success, according to panelists at Celent’s recent Innovation & Insight Day in Boston. Making legacy systems a thing of the past also helps.

CEO Robert Benmosche says the insurer will put a concerted effort toward re-establishing AIG throughout the world with its life-insurance product.

If you’re only watching social media chatter, there are big customer support and marketing opportunities passing your business by.