The Chronicle: Issue 2016-15, April 12, 2016


What's Going Through The Intersection of Insurance and Technology?

Innovation, Integrity, Fintech: Pick 2?
When we hear of “innovation” these days, the odds are pretty good that there is new technology behind it. The question now is whether the technology innovation can maintain integrity while scaling rapidly, especially for financial services.

It's fair to say that these days, more often than not, the access point to the technology is an app on a mobile device – always available. It's part of us, and it's disruptive for some of our industries.

Financial services are already encountering disruption. According to a recent survey by PwC, financial institutions expect substantial disruption over the next 5 years. Notably, a significant portion of new technologies are coming from standalone fintech companies. And these companies are leading the implementations. Established financial institutions are not taking this lying down.

The Intersection: Insurance-Canada.ca Blog
The Intersection

an Insurance-Canada.ca Blog


Business of Insurance

Munich Re and Beazley to offer cyber protection for world's largest companies
Beazley, a pioneer in data breach response insurance and the largest insurer of cyber liability risks in the Lloyd's market, has partnered with the Corporate Insurance Partner unit of Munich Re, one of the world's leading reinsurers, to offer the broadest protection yet for the digital assets and IT infrastructure of the world's largest companies.

Technology

ISO to collect cyber insurance data to help mitigate cyber risk
ISO will collect, aggregate, and analyze cyber insurance data to help address a major issue facing today's cyber insurance market: the need for more detailed underwriting and rating information. ISO is a Verisk Analytics (Nasdaq:VRSK) business.

IBM and SAP announce major investments to drive clients' digital transformations
IBM and SAP SE have announced plans to drive the modernization of clients' systems and processes and accelerate them into the digital economy. Specifically, the companies plan to co-innovate solutions that increase customer value through cognitive extensions, enhanced customer and user experiences and industry-specific functionality – all enabled with SAP® Business Suite 4 SAP HANA® (SAP S/4HANA) software, available on-premise and in the cloud.

TmaxSoft launches Tibero database management system in Canada
TmaxSoft Inc. has announced that Tibero 6, the latest release of its innovative relational database management system, is now available to Canadian customers. Tibero is a secure, fully compliant SQL RDBMS that scales easily and conforms to today's cost-optimized cloud architectures and is compatible with all current database products. It supports an efficient architecture, guarantees compatibility without modifying applications and introducing potential errors as well as providing a robust security model.

Celent report: Robotic Process Automation in insurance
The focus over the last decade in insurance has been around streamlining business processes to reduce waste and increase efficiency. Robotic process automation (RPA) is a set of technologies to automate processes that currently require human involvement.

Distribution

CSIO: Peace Hills Insurance launches CSIO eDelivery, obtains certification
The Centre for Study of Insurance Operations (CSIO) is pleased to announce that Peace Hills Insurance has implemented CSIO eDelivery, enabling the electronic transmission of personal lines policy documents directly to consumers' Canada Post epost® digital mailboxes in place of traditional mail. As part of its implementation process, Peace Hills obtained CSIO Certification, demonstrating its commitment to industry standards that improve the ease of doing business within the broker distribution channel.

Applied Systems: Citrix joins partner program for eSignature
Applied Systems has announced that Citrix has joined the Applied Partner Program to offer its eSignature solution, RightSignature, to North American insurance agencies and brokerages via integration with Applied Epic.

Claims

ASSI opens first U.S. Collision Reporting Center
Accident Support Services International, facilitators of Collision Reporting to the insurance industry, is pleased to announce the opening of our first U.S. Collision Reporting Centre in partnership with the City of Roanoke Police Department, Roanoke County Police Department and Salem Police Department in June, 2016.

Consumer Information

HealthQuotes.ca: Canadian Retirees, Healthcare Misconceptions and Health Insurance
Many Canadians believe that most of their healthcare related costs will be covered by their government healthcare plan once they retire. Unfortunately, this just isn't true. In fact, according to a recent Sun Life Canadian Health Index study, there is quite a disconnect between what we Canadians believe about our healthcare system versus the reality of healthcare costs!

SGI offers Reduced No Fault injury coverage for motorcycle owners now available
Spring is here to stay and it brings something new for motorcycle owners: a third option for injury coverage from SGI, called Reduced No Fault. Announced last year and implemented April 1, 2016, Reduced No Fault coverage offers a basic package of injury benefits at a lower cost, since there are fewer benefits.

Allstate Canada launches Usage-Based Insurance program in Alberta
Allstate Insurance Company of Canada is pleased to announce the launch of Drivewise®, a Usage-Based Insurance (UBI) offering in the province of Alberta. Drivewise® is the first UBI program available to drivers in the province following approval from the Superintendent of Insurance for the introduction of Usage-Based Insurance programs for private passenger vehicles in Alberta beginning April 1, 2016.

Ingle International highlights duty of care with Travel Navigator offering
In the wake of the March 22 Brussels terrorist attacks, Ingle International is highlighting the importance of the duty of care that organizations have toward their own. These seemingly more frequent attacks underscore the evolving travel landscape and the need to keep travellers safe and informed.

IBC's top 10 tips to reduce the risk of water damage
April brings warmer weather and rain, and while these get rid of the snow and green the grass, they can be damaging to your home. That's why Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) is offering Canadians its top 10 tips for reducing the risk of water damage.


Subscribe here or view past issues.