The Chronicle: Issue 2013-49, December 17, 2013
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What's Going Through The Intersection of Insurance and Technology?
Real-Time: Can Marketers Drive A New Business Model for Insurance? |
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Consumer Information
Great-West Life launches smartPATH 2.0 to engage employees in retirement planning and saving
Great-West Life has launched smartPATH 2.0, an interactive online resource designed to help employers better engage their employees in retirement education, planning and saving. Customized to reflect each participating employer's specific group retirement and savings plan design and features, smartPATH 2.0 changes the way members interact with their plan's educational resources, helping them to better understand financial decisions.
CLHIA consumer brochures go mobile in support of financial literacy
The life and health insurance industry is committed to doing its part in helping to increase the financial literacy of Canadians by making access to consumer information on the industry's products and services as easy and convenient as possible. With Canadians being amongst the earliest adopters of new technologies, the Association has modernized its full suite of consumer brochures so that they are now also accessible on mobile devices.
The Guarantee announces new Personal Umbrella Liability Rider
Guarantee SUPERIOR residential policyholders can now take advantage of our new Personal Umbrella Liability Rider. Effective December 1, 2013, customers can find peace of mind with the additional protection in excess of their standard liability coverage limits for their homes, rentals, automobiles, watercrafts and recreational vehicles.
IBAO offers tips to protect your car from Christmas Scrooge
As we head into the week before Christmas, shopping season is in full swing. The Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO) would like to provide Ontarians with some basic tips on how to protect the valuables in their cars as they shop and travel this holiday season. Christmas is a particularly vulnerable time as criminals target unsuspecting shoppers.
Distribution
Celent report: Mobile Insurance Technology for the Life Insurance Producer
Twenty-seven of the top 100 life insurance companies have apps for producers, more than double the number of insurers that offered apps to producers in 2011. In this report, Celent examines the mobile app functionality being offered to life insurance producers from the top 100 life insurers. The study also examines what Celent believes the next-generation functionality for producer apps should be, and where insurance companies should focus their attention.
Applied Systems announces release of Applied CSR24 2013
Applied Systems has announced the general release of Applied CSR24 2013, the latest version of the leading on-demand customer self-service portal. Applied CSR24's new capabilities enable insurance agencies and brokerages to meet changing consumer demands by delivering faster, more comprehensive customer service online.
Technology
MARCON Mobility Newsletter: Consider the Safety of Older Drivers
As the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration confirms, older individuals are at a "risk of dying or sustaining serious injuries, even in low-severity crashes." Given that the 65+ age group in most Western societies is growing at a faster pace than the population as a whole, it is becoming increasingly important to address the safety of these individuals in a vehicular context.
Policy Management
Aite Group: annuity carriers need to innovate products, processes, and technology to avoid being left behind
The U.S. financial services industry has traditionally focused on asset accumulation achieved through a narrow set of products and channels, but high equity-markets volatility, low interest rates, and lengthening lives are leaving U.S. investors hungry for guarantees that they won't outlive their investments. Laggard annuity carriers that do not innovate their products to include more investment choices and guaranteed retirement income at a lower cost will be left behind the few companies that offer these products and focus on customer needs.
OneShield: Six Tenets of TCO for Core System Modernization
All too often insurers enter a transformation project with a set of established goals in mind but fail to think about the long-term costs associated with these projects such as data conversion, maintaining legacy systems prior to sun-setting and core upgrades.
Exigen insurance solutions for Policy Administration, Billing and Claims deployed at AMI Insurance
IAG and Exigen Insurance Solutions®, a global provider of core systems and business transformation to insurers, have announced the successful country-wide roll out of Exigen's policy administration, billing and claims solutions for motor vehicle lines of business at IAG subsidiary AMI.
RSA Canada deploys RC Inspection from Risk Control Technologies
Risk Control Technologies Inc., the industry-leading provider of loss control software solutions for insurers, today announced that RSA Canada has deployed the RC Inspection software solution in production to help streamline its risk control operations.
Intact Financial Corporation selects Guidewire System for Billing
Intact Financial Corporation, Canada's largest provider of home, auto and business insurance, and Guidewire Software, Inc., a provider of software products to Property/Casualty insurers, have announced that Intact has selected Guidewire BillingCenter® to manage its billing operations. By standardizing its billing operations with BillingCenter, Intact will improve its business processes, increase flexibility for new billing and payment plans, lower IT costs, and deliver an improved customer experience.
Jobs and Careers
IBAO: National Insurance Job Board launches online
The Independent Broker Resources Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO), has launched Career Centre, an online job board for those looking to join or advance their career in the insurance industry. Career Centre is a one-stop shop for job seekers and for insurance brokers and insurance related companies to post their job opportunities across the country.
In The Community
Industrial Alliance employees' United Way donations pass milestone
Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. is pleased to announce that the total contributions from its employees and the company to United Way in 2013 reached a seven-figure total for the first time. In addition to making personal contributions in the context of the official 2013 United Way fundraising campaign, Industrial Alliance employees from coast to coast invested time and energy in various fundraising activities throughout the year.
Aviva announces 2013 Community Fund finalists
After four rounds and more than 2.5 million votes, Aviva Canada, one of the country's leading providers of home, auto, leisure and business insurance, is pleased to announce the finalists of the 2013 Aviva Community Fund.
Happy Holidays!
To all our readers:
Please be advised that this issue will be the last newsletter of the year. The Chronicle will return on Tuesday, January 7, 2014.
In appreciation of your patronage over the year, and in lieu of Christmas cards, Insurance-Canada.ca is making a donation to the Daily Food Bank.
We wish you a happy and safe festive season, and all the best to you in 2014.
Doug, Patrick, Kathy, Bobbi, and Dave
Your Insurance-Canada.ca team