January 4, 2010 (NEW YORK) – According to a new report released today by Novarica (www.novarica.com), a research and advisory firm focused on insurance business and technology strategy, P&C insurers have continued to turn to the vendor market for billing systems, with the customer bases of the top 12 systems expanding by 27% over the past two years.
“Billing continues to be an important part of P/C insurers’ agent service and customer service strategies,” notes Matthew Josefowicz, director of Novarica and lead author of Novarica Market Navigator: US P/C Billing Systems 2010Q1. “The increased importance of new payment methods, especially credit cards, the increased need to communicate real-time billing information via new channels like the web and integration with agency management systems all contribute to insurers’ focus on this area.”
“The provider market in billing is also very active,” Josefowicz notes. “Since our last report in early 2008, Guidewire has become a much more established player with four live clients and over a dozen companies in implementation. MajescoMastek purchased STG and continues to expand their client base and improve the UI of the application. CSC and LexisNexis have also grown their customer bases, and StoneRiver (formerly Fiserv) continues to hold a solid position. Oracle and Duck Creek have also entered the market since our last report.”
However, the report notes, the market in the US may be flattening out somewhat overall.
“In our most recent poll of our Novarica Insurance Technology Research Council, 24% of midsize P/C insurers and 4% of large P/C insurers listed Billing among their top three projects for 2009, but for 2010, only 4% of midsize and 4% of large companies listed it among their top three projects,” Josefowicz comments. “Insurers should recognize the increased negotiating power that this slowdown may offer them, and vendors should prepare for additional competition.”
The report is summary and purchasing information is online at http://www.novarica.com/report_billing_nmn_update.shtml.
Tags: Novarica
