RISK MANAGEMENT, INSURANCE TECHNOLOGY
PRnewswire | March 30, 2023
Acquis, Europe's leading provider of specialist insurance programs to the asset finance market, today announced it has entered into an agreement to be acquired by NSM Insurance Group, a global leader in specialty insurance with more than $1.5B in premium across 25+ niche insurance programs. For over 30 years, NSM has specialized in investing in a broad portfolio of insurance companies in the U.S. and Europe.
Acquis went through an MBO process in 2019 when they were backed by specialist private equity investor Dunedin LLP. Subsequently, Acquis was able to accelerate its growth plans, tripling the size of its workforce, acquiring 46 customers, launching 50 additional insurance programs and increasing turnover by 47 percent within three years. This new investment will ensure Acquis is well placed to achieve its growth ambitions, expanding its solutions and services in existing and new territories.
"This investment from NSM Insurance Group marks a significant opportunity for Acquis to meet the increased demand we are witnessing for our products, and to continue to develop our market-leading insurance solutions for the asset finance market," said Nick Leader, Acquis CEO. "NSM is a perfect fit for Acquis, they understand our market and are as ambitious about our growth potential as we are. This deal will enable the continued development of our people, processes and systems and will allow us to galvanize our growth plans. NSM's confidence in Acquis is testament to the hard work and dedication of our team in building the company we are today."
Geof McKernan, CEO and Founder of NSM Insurance Group, added: "We are entrepreneurs at heart and we seize compelling opportunities to partner with high-performing companies with significant growth opportunity. We are excited to further expand in Europe and the U.S. with the acquisition of Acquis — the leader in innovative solutions for the finance and leasing industry. We look forward to partnering with Nick and his team and providing them with our state-of-the-art resources and capacity to help take their business to new heights."
The closing is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
About NSM Insurance Group
NSM Insurance Group is the nation's leading specialty insurance provider, exclusively focused on building successful insurance programs. For more than 30 years, NSM has been committed to delivering industry-specific insurance programs that help agents meet the unique needs of their customers and fuel market growth through innovative development, underwriting, distribution and claims expertise. The company has built more than $1.5 billion in premium across 25+ specialty insurance programs and brands in the U.S. and U.K. focused on collector cars; pets; social services and behavioral health; addiction treatment; coastal condominiums; towing and garage; trucking; sports and fitness; professional liability for contractors, architects and engineers; habitational; medical stop-loss; staffing; and workers' compensation. For more information on NSM, visit nsminc.com.
About Acquis
Acquis is the largest provider of specialist insurance programs for leased equipment in Europe. Leading asset finance brands and leasing companies across 16 European countries rely on Acquis' outsourced insurance solutions to enhance their asset finance offering, deliver customer value and increase revenue. For more information, visit acquisinsurance.com
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CLAIMS, COMPLIANCE
PRweb | May 11, 2023
Guidewire (NYSE: GWRE) and Transcard announced that Transcard’s new Ready for Guidewire validated accelerator is now available to ClaimCenter users in the Guidewire Marketplace.
Customer expectations surrounding claims, specifically claims payments, continue to rise. Now, according to Aite-Novarica, customers expect to receive funds not only in a manner that is convenient to them, but also as quickly as possible. In fact, many customers want the option of “real-time payments” to “receive funds instantly” from their insurer. These high, modern expectations need to be met with modern solutions.
Transcard’s SMART Suite is a secure, all-in-one payments platform that helps insurers meet their customers’ modern payment needs. It allows policyholders to choose their preferred payment method from a wide variety of modern payment types, from ACH and card to PayPal and Zelle.
With the Transcard Accelerator for Claims Payments, insurers can:
Easily access the SMART Hub dashboard within ClaimCenter;
Quickly make or schedule payments to customers or suppliers; and
Automatically reconcile payments in Guidewire in real-time without manual labor.
Transcard’s technology works with any existing bank account, so insurers aren’t required to set up or pre-fund new bank accounts to disburse funds electronically. Additionally, it offers pre-configured workflows for claim payouts, lienholder payments, and other business applications. SMART Hub is Transcard’s all-in-one portal for managing payments. SMART Hub’s dashboard provides access to payment insights in real-time and insurers can track all incoming and outgoing activity via the SMART Hub dashboard.
“Our embedded payment solutions extend the value of Guidewire by making it easier for insurers to make, receive, and manage payments of any type from a single platform, without having to set up or pre-fund a new bank account,” said Greg Bloh, CEO, Transcard. “Connecting our technologies helps our shared customers drive operational efficiency and improve customer satisfaction.”
“We applaud Transcard on the release of its new ClaimCenter app,” said Will Murphy, Vice President, Global Solution Alliances, Guidewire. “Transcard’s SMART solutions enable better payment control and visibility for insurers, while fulfilling policyholders’ modern payment needs and enhancing their experience.”
About Transcard
We make frictionless payments a reality with comprehensive global payment solutions designed for banks, fintechs, and businesses of any size and in any industry. We deliver solutions for B2B payments, C2B payments, B2B2C payments, A2A automation, BaaS.
Our solutions combine unmatched multi-rail capabilities, embedded workflows, best-in-class integration, effortless reconciliation, and bank-grade security. These are some of the reasons that 550 businesses and more than 200 banks trust us with their payments.
About Guidewire PartnerConnect ecosystem and Ready for Guidewire
Guidewire’s solution ecosystem is the largest in the P&C industry, with over 180+ solution partners providing over 195+ integrations in the Guidewire Marketplace. Guidewire PartnerConnect Solution partners provide software, technology, and data solutions as well as insurance support services. Our Solution partners help drive business value and innovation for insurers by developing and delivering integrations, extensions, apps, and other complementary solutions for Guidewire products. All of our Ready for Guidewire partner solutions are validated for security, quality, and compatibility with Guidewire, and can be found on the Guidewire Marketplace.
About Guidewire Software
Guidewire is the platform P&C insurers trust to engage, innovate, and grow efficiently. We combine digital, core, analytics, and machine learning to deliver our platform as a cloud service. More than 500 insurers in 38 countries, from new ventures to the largest and most complex in the world, run on Guidewire.
As a partner to our customers, we continually evolve to enable their success. We are proud of our unparalleled implementation track record, with 1,000+ successful projects, supported by the largest R&D team and partner ecosystem in the industry. Our marketplace provides hundreds of applications that accelerate integration, localization, and innovation.
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LIFE INSURANCE, INSURANCE TECHNOLOGY
PRnewswire | May 26, 2023
Sproutt, the life insurance company that modernizes life insurance for agencies, agents, and their customers, has announced the development of a groundbreaking AI engine, currently available only to limited groups, to boost its SmartLife platform. The platform's capabilities will be supercharged by generative AI technology, empowering agents and agencies with more predictive product fulfillment and "first in the industry" client engagement capabilities based on Large Language Models (LLM) technology. The introduction of AI will revolutionize the way agents interact with clients and marks a significant milestone for Sproutt, further demonstrating its commitment to providing cutting-edge technology solutions within the life insurance ecosystem.
Sproutt's SmartLife platform is leveraging the power of generative AI to create unique and personalized client communications based on multiple data sources and previous interactions with clients. By evaluating this data, the platform will generate relevant and timely content that agents can utilize to enhance customer engagement and sales. Events such as a client's policy anniversary, renewal date, birthday, and even local sports team news can be factored in to trigger precise communications. SmartLife's user-friendly interface enables agents to easily navigate and access the information they need to be successful.
The platform will also be boosted by AI driven product recommendations, employing multiple data sources to deliver tailored product solutions for each client. Predictive modeling capabilities will enable agents to anticipate future client needs, further elevating their potential. Leveraging AI for product fulfillment will overhaul the insurance sales process, increase STP rates, and effectively transform agents into experts.
"The goal is to arm agents with the best tools and technologies to help them build strong client relationships and supercharge their sales efforts," said Craig Shigeno, CEO of Shigeno Consulting. "By employing generative AI, agents will have instant access to personalized content that resonates with their clients, generating more effective outreach and saving valuable time."
"As we continue to expand our offerings, we see the SmartLife platform as a game-changer for the life insurance industry," said Yoav Shaham, CEO of Sproutt. "With the integration of AI, agents will have the ability to sell more effectively and communicate more efficiently with their clients, ultimately leading to greater customer satisfaction and increased sales."
About Sproutt
Sproutt is a life insurance company that modernizes life insurance distribution for agencies, agents, and their customers. Leveraging data and AI, the Sproutt SmartLife platform is set to reshape Life insurance distribution. The platform empowers insurance producers to efficiently assess risk, tailor policies, and enhance customer experience in the most effective and scalable way. Sproutt sells its policies through agents and brokers via its SmartLife for Agents and Agencies. Backed by State of Mind Ventures, Moneta VC, FinTLV, Guardian Life, MS&AD Ventures, MoreTech Ventures, Harel Group, Menora Mivtachim, Raptor Group, and Falcon Edge Capital, Sproutt's business operations are based in New York with an R&D center in Tel Aviv.
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