Digital distribution

Oracle released the latest version of Oracle Insurance Revenue Management and Billing 2.2.4, a rules-based system that enables insurers to manage billing, payments and collections using a single solution. This updated version enables insurers to automate group and list bill reconciliation to help cut processing costs, improve productivity, and reduce revenue leakage with improved reconciliation accuracy.

As the industry faces shrinking distribution, profitable growth is a top priority for life insurance executives in 2012. This is the essence of LOMA's annual industry forecast, which includes the results of executive interviews conducted on topics such as sales, distribution, use of technology and social media, as well as the effects of regulation during the next 12 months. LOMA is an industry group comprising life insurance professionals.

The potential commoditization of insurance products means companies need to focus on self-service Web presences.

Crump Insurance Services Inc. (Crump P&C) the property/casualty division of Crump Group Inc. has joined the LexisNexis Insurance Exchange.

John Hancock Financial, a unit of Manulife Financial Corp., has entered the travel insurance marketplace, distributing products through a new website, www.johnhancocktravel.com, and through travel insurance comparison sites, such as InsureMyTrip.com.

The always-on, always-up digital culture that has been so readily adopted by younger Americans is having an impact on direct mail, according Mintel Comperemedia, a firm that provides competitive intelligence services. The firm reports that direct mail volume to consumers from life, health and property/casualty insurers is down 11 percent in Q3 2011 compared to Q3 2010.

Financial consulting firm Deloitte has acquired mobile agency Übermind Inc., expanding Deloitte’s business, systems integration and enterprise technology capabilities. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Spurred by its $16.2 billion acquisition of American Life Insurance Co., MetLife Inc. moved into the top five while American International Group Inc. (AIG) slid from third to fifth in A.M. Best’s rankings of the top 25 global insurers based on nonbanking assets. UnitedHealth Group and WellPoint Inc., at third and eighth, respectively, were the only U.S.-based insurers to rank in the top ten based on net premiums written.

One week after new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that the number of children with insurance increased by 1.2 million since President Obama signed the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization Act in 2009, more than $296 million was awarded to states for ensuring more children have health coverage.

Fidelity National Financial Inc. (FNF) agreed to sell an 85 percent interest in its personal lines business to WT Holdings Inc. for approximately $119 million. Under the terms of the definitive agreement, WT Holdings will acquire Fidelity National Insurance Company, Fidelity National Property and Casualty Insurance Company and FNIS Insurance Services. FNF will retain a 15 percent minority ownership position in the personal lines business.

Amica Mutual received the top honor for overall excellence from InsuranceQuotes.com’s inaugural Insurance Quality Awards.

Potentially simpler interconnectivity and cheaper information dissemination processes could make insurers, and insureds' wallets, very happy.

For the second straight year, MetLife leads life insurers in annuity considerations through the first three quarters, ended Sept. 30, 2011. Prudential Financial and Jackson National Life Group round out the top three in the rankings released by SNL.

United Automobile Insurance Co. (UAIC), a privately held P&C insurer specializing in auto insurance, has deployed BillingCenter as its billing management system. BillingCenter is a product of Guidewire Software, a provider of core system software to P&C insurers.

While the insurance industry was an early adopter of mobile technology for basic communication functions, it has lagged in developing and implementing internal and customer-facing applications.

DST Systems Inc., a provider of information processing solutions and services to the asset management, insurance, retirement, brokerage and healthcare industries, has released DST Insurance Solutions’ InPayce payout solution.

The industry constantly hears about the problem of retiring knowledge workers and that young people aren’t drawn to insurance careers. The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York (IIABNY) is doing something about it. On December 7 the association hosted more than 50 high school students who participated in InVEST, an insurance industry classroom-to-career education program.

Columbus Life Insurance, a provider of retirement, estate planning and advanced business planning services, has selected iGO e-App to automate and streamline business processes for independent producers. iGO is a product of iPipeline, a creator of marketing, selling and processing solutions for insurance carriers, distributors and producers.

COUNTRY Financial, out of Bloomington, Ill., has licensed the PolicyWriter software suite from Adaptik Corp. to serve as the heart of its next generation personal lines policy administration platform, the companies report.

In 2012, the U.S. life and annuity insurance industry will be challenged to find ways to manage both capital and risk in an economically and politically uncertain year, while continuing to lay the groundwork for future growth, according to Ernst & Young's new Global Insurance Center U.S. Outlook report.