One Solution to Many Problems
Sometimes one solution can be the cure for a whole host of pain points. The much anticipated Attachments product from Insurance & Retirement Services will provide a one-service-helps-all capability that can mean less paper, less manual processing, lower processing costs and more in-good-order contracts.
Imagine the opportunity to sharply reduce snail mail, faxes, overnight carrier service, endless paper copies and even multiple emails.
Attachments (ATT), as a standalone web service, eliminates exchanges of paper-based information when signatures and/or original documentation are required for otherwise automated processes. No wonder firms have jumped in line to join the pilot in 3Q 2008.
“The industry is particularly enthusiastic about this service, seeing it as a key to moving straight-through processing closer to reality,” said Randi Gordon, DTCC vice president, Product Management. “In fact, firms are already devising more ways to leverage the service across the board in all kinds of situations that were not part of our original plan. The excitement and ideas expressed by carriers and broker/dealers at the latest Senior Advisory Board meeting are an indication of the interest in the product.”
Attachments Has Many Uses
The Attachments service will support several existing automated processes beginning with Applications (APP) and then moving in the next development phases to Licensing & Appointments (LNA) and In Force Transactions as well as supporting documentation such as confirmations, statements, prospectus and welcome packages.
While Attachments focuses initially on new business Applications, the new capability will be added to Replacements (RPL), the next solution under development by DTCC, as a separate project. Replacements is scheduled for pilot later in 2009 – a service that will automate and standardize 1035 exchanges and qualified transfers from one carrier to another for annuity and life insurance products.
How Attachments Reduces Paper
Attachments will allow the electronic exchange of digital (imaged) documents and forms during the pre-sale, new business and post-issue processing of annuity and life insurance information. These various forms of unstructured data that are now manually copied and shared will be handled as electronic attachments to the core messaging process provided through DTCC.
The process will transmit an attachment file, which may contain multiple documents related to a single contract, and link the core application transaction with the attachment file message.
Attachments arrives on the scene as the insurance industry faces a more demanding regulatory environment where the electronic exchange of imaged documentation and signatures is rapidly becoming a necessity for doing business. Automation of the manual processing and sharing of paper documentation will create an audit trail, eliminate lost paperwork and enhance other compliance-ready solutions from Insurance Service, while helping to reduce the costs associated with compliance procedures.
Attachments represents a critical path component of the NAVA STP initiative for new business. It is also the second solution that will utilize XML data messaging based on the ACORD Life and Annuity Standard.
Deborah Tucker, NAVA vice president, appreciates the timely delivery of the Attachments service. “With its quick-to-market development, DTCC soon will add a key capability to STP implementation, making it possible for distributors to provide insurers with signed forms in an electronic envelope along with the electronic order, removing the disconnect between documentation and order. It will produce more in-good-order business and maximize the DTCC Applications service, the de facto standard for annuity applications. In addition, Attachments can be repurposed to support the transfer of documentation with other automated services throughout the product life cycle.”
If you are interested in more information about this product, please contact your relationship manager or Randi Gordon at 212-855-5654 or rbgordon@dtcc.com.