Payment technology challenges in the insurance industry
With the right technology, insurance companies can make the payments process far more efficient and user-friendly.
Websites that are difficult to navigate, internal processing complexities, PCI compliance and other challenges make payments particularly burdensome for insurances companies and customers alike. With the right technology, insurance companies can make the payments process far more efficient and user-friendly.
Inflexible payment options
Insurer websites often require consumers to complete lengthy registration processes to access member portals. Even after completing their online registration, policyholders are often frustrated by a lack of convenient payment options. Consumers prefer simple, one-time guest payments, but most insurance companies do not offer this capability on their websites. Not only is this detrimental to user experience and customer satisfaction, it can also impede an insurer’s cash flow.
Complex processing requirements
Various kinds of payments flow into an insurance company at any given time, including binder payments. A binder payment is the initial payment made by a customer towards an insurance policy. Due to regulatory concerns surrounding these payments, they must be handled with care and processed separately from regular monthly premium payments. Even in the case of regular premiums, a single insurance company could process payments from any number of business lines (i.e. life, auto, and health) with distinct settlement accounts and requirements associated with each.
Due to the unique requirements and time-consuming manual processes involved, payments can be a technical and administrative nightmare for insurers. An electronic payments solution can help streamline operations by centralizing disparate payments into a single platform while introducing automation throughout each process. Insurance companies should seek a platform that can be customized to reflect internal business structures and needs.
PCI compliance
The nature of the insurance business means that insurers collect a lot of sensitive information, making the protection of customer data one of the biggest challenges within the industry.
In order to accept credit card payments, businesses must adhere to strict regulations surrounding the collection and storage of sensitive financial and personal information known as PCI compliance. The consequences of a data breach are numerous and devastating: damaged brand reputation, fines, costs associated with technology infrastructure changes, legal costs, etc.
Many insurers lack expertise in PCI compliance and find it best to outsource it entirely. Implementing an electronic payment solution would shift this responsibility from an insurance company onto the third-party provider.
The payments process presents insurers with a great opportunity to modernize technology infrastructure as well as service. For many insurance companies, payments only add to already hefty administrative workloads. By implementing the right technology platform, insurance companies can better manage their complicated payments procedures, improve the customer experience, and streamline operations.
Bethany Frank is a senior marketing associate at Alacriti, a payment technology company. To reach this contributor, send email to Bethany.Frank@Alacriti.com.
These opinions are the writer’s own.
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