Insurance Networking News: Executive Strategies for Technology Management articles from January 2003

Insurance Networking News: Executive Strategies for Technology Management archives from January 2003

Insurers Scramble On Terror Coverage.
January 1, 2003... It's a classic case of the old adage, "Watch what you wish for." On November 26, President Bush signed the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (TRIA). Finally, 14 months after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon,...

2003 IT Spending.(information technology)
January 1, 2003... Copyright c 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. After the technology exuberance of the late 1990s, the current conservative approach to IT spending seems like a hangover after a big party. But IT spending by carriers in the coming...

STP Gives Insurers The Racer's Edge.(straight-through-processing)
January 1, 2003... The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. And in processing their business, insurers have found that progressing from point A to point B typically involves a straight-line approach. But there's a hitch: While the line...

Tough Decisions Await Carrier CEOs In 2003.(chief executive officers )
January 1, 2003... To say that 2003 is a critical year for the insurance industry understates the challenges that insurance executives currently are facing. Although the industry last year experienced the most dramatic acceleration in net written premium growth...

Insurers Engage In War On Terror.
January 1, 2003... To most insurance companies, knowing the identities of their customers has always been motivated by commission-that is, the more insurers know about them increases the rate at which they can market additional services. Following the...

Interstate Compact Could Be Years Away.
January 1, 2003... While the plenary body of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) gave its final approval to the proposed interstate compact at its Winter meeting in San Diego, opposition and questions raised in the debate bode for the...

Vendor News: IBM's On-Demand Solution Draws Bead On A Demanding Insurance Market.
January 1, 2003... Last February, PwC Consulting unveiled an intriguing concept known as the Virtual Insurance Community (VIC), an end-to-end component-based e-business solution designed for property and casualty insurance carriers. One major distinction...

CSC Faces Litigation For Software Project.(Computer Sciences Corp.)
January 1, 2003... Computer Sciences Corp., an El Segundo, Calif.-based provider of enterprise software solutions to the insurance industry, is embroiled in a dispute with 21st Century Insurance Group. The legal dispute hinges on an alleged failed software...

Calendar.
January 1, 2003... 5th Annual Insurance Technology Symposium Sponsor: Strategic Research Institute When: Feb. 5-6 Where: The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Scottsdale, Ariz. www.srinstitute.com Insurance Legislative Summit Sponsor:...

What Acts Are Covered?(Terror ist Risk Insurance Act)
January 1, 2003... Only terrorist acts "certified" by the Secretary of the Treasury, in concurrence with the Secretary of State and Attorney General of the United States, are covered by the new federal program. These "certified acts" are defined as: *...

Projected Terrorism Deductibles.
January 1, 2003... (In $ millions) (part 1 of 2) Commercial market share rank Company lines premium(est.) 1 AIG $12,751 3 Travelers ...

Product Previews.
January 1, 2003... COMPLIANCE TOOL New York-based CT Corp.'s CT Insurance Services has introduced Rxeconcile, a new producer database reconciliation service. The service is designed to help insurance carriers maintain producer data consistent with the state...

Business Alliances.
January 1, 2003... Brookfield, Wis.-based Fiserv Inc. and EDS Corp., Plano, Texas, have completed their previously announced deal for Fiserv to acquire EDS' Consumer Network Services (CNS) unit. CNS offers transaction processing services, facilitating a range of...

Fifth Third Sells Insurance Unit To Hub.(Fifth Third Bancorp.)
January 1, 2003... As banking companies from coast to coast buy agencies to get into the property/casualty insurance business, Fifth Third Bancorp, for one, is getting out. In late December, the Cincinnati-based regional banking company announced it agreed...

Contracts.
January 1, 2003... The Contracts Update section includes announcements of contracts insurance information technology companies have signed with customers in recent weeks. Contract news can be faxed to Insurance Networking magazine at (312) 913-1366 or by...

Sharing Knowledge Improves Brand.
January 1, 2003... Still in its infancy, knowledge management technology has the potential to help carriers deliver a consistent brand image and high-impact advertising to target audiences. Advocates of knowledge management systems have long pointed to the...

Callahan Takes IT To A Higher Level.(Callahan, Dennis)(information technology)
January 1, 2003... Joining Guardian as a CIO with a blank slate for improvement, Dennis Callahan has reduced IT costs, formed a collaborative partnership with the business units, and established a consistent technology direction. Dennis Callahan was content...

Giving Documents The Ditch.(paperless office)
January 1, 2003... As a result of switching to document scanning, and eventually upgrading its equipment, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia has seen what its describes as a significant increase in efficiency and cost savings. The paperless office could be...

Putting The Brakes On Fraudulent ID Cards: New York state is using bar-coded ID cards that contain proof of insurance.
January 1, 2003... Throughout much of the 1990s, the road to auto insurance accountability and compliance in the state of New York was in disarray. That's because throughout the decade, New York state officials and auto insurers watched with helpless dismay as a...

Agents Are The Crux of Hartford's Web Strategy.(Hartford Financial Services Group)
January 1, 2003... Back in the prehistoric 1990s, The Hartford Financial Services Group applied technology the old-fashioned way. It used a vertically oriented approach to solve problems in discreet business silos. Today, the $15-billion investment and...

Financial Keyosk Incorporates.
January 1, 2003... Spinning off as an independent entity from its parent company Zurich North America, Financial Keyosk incorporated on December 31. At the same time, the Carpentersville, Ill.-based Financial Keyosk is rounding out its channel strategy as a...

e.Capsule.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... At Issue: New York state officials are concerned about the growing number of residents who have fraudulent auto insurance ID cards. The Solution: Issuing bar-coded ID cards that contain data such as proof of insurance. Implementation:...

A Bevy of eService and eSales Initiatives.
January 1, 2003... Over the past year, The Hartford Financial Services Group has launched several technology initiatives aimed at making life easier for distributors. Those efforts will continue this year as new features and functionality are added to The...

Statistically Speaking E-Billing A Necessity For Group Insurers.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Reconciling and processing list bill payments is expensive and time-consuming for group insurers. Group e-billing systems enable carriers to present list bills to customers via the Web. By presenting this information to customers online,...

The Emperor's New Clothes.(automation)
January 1, 2003... In a recent meeting with executives at a Top Ten insurer, I posed this question: "If you had your wish, which manual process would you pick to automate first?" The reason for my query was to help identify where the biggest pain points were,...

Do E-Commerce Barriers Still Exist?
January 1, 2003... The insurance industry has made great strides in recent years in transacting insurance electronically. Yet there is no doubt that the barriers that still exist, whether real or perceived, must be toppled to allow insurers to join other...