Legality, security and mobility key factors for Silanis e-signature integration
Atlanta, GA and Redwood Shores, CA, – October 25, 2012 – Ebix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBIX), a leading international supplier of On-Demand software and E-commerce services to the insurance and financial industries, today announced a partnership with Silanis, the leader in enterprise electronic signature solutions with the largest e-signature deployments. Silanis will now become the preferred e-signature solution within Ebix’s on-demand offerings used by hundreds of thousands of brokers and insurance companies worldwide, representing in excess of $100 billion in insurance premiums annually. This partnership reflects the increased demand globally from insurance carriers and agents to improve the customer experience across all sales channels with 100 percent straight-through processing.
The agreement is transactional, whereby EbixExchange will first integrate Silanis’ e-signature solution in the new business application process within the EbixExchange CRM, as well as expand the offering to EbixExchange's AnnuityNet, WinFlex, LifeSpeed and AMP platforms. EbixExchange's CRM subscribers will be able to complete annuity and insurance new business immediately without the delay of obtaining a paper-based signature from the policy holder. Electronically signing the application will make it possible to close business in one web session or in-person visit, improving the compliance of applications by dramatically reducing not-in-good-order rates while also eliminating costly manual procedures. EbixExchange will initially roll out Silanis e-signatures to its client base including broker/dealers, banks, clearing firms, captive agents and BGA communities, with plans to expand the offering through other divisions, including P&C, international, health and BPO.
Gaining widespread adoption of e-signatures and e-policy delivery by agents has historically been a challenge in the insurance industry, despite clear recognition of the benefits and a desire to use the technology – in fact, applicant and agent e-signatures were rated the top technology initiatives for agencies, according to a 2011 Life Brokerage Technology Committee survey. Lack of adoption stems from reluctance on the part of agents to use a different way of submitting new business applications electronically for each carrier they sell. For carriers, their concern lies in underwriting business that may or may not have been originated in compliance with regulations and corporate policy.
“The Ebix-Silanis partnership provides the answer
with integrated, robust e-signatures as part of vertical applications they are
already using, whether for new business or customer servicing applications,”
said Dan Delity SVP & Global Sales Head of Ebix. “The flexibility
and performance of the Silanis e-signature platform allows Ebix to scale across
all our offerings with a legal, secure solution, while the transaction management
capabilities provide immediate visibility into the online e-signature transactions
for both the carrier and the agent.”
E-signatures are now considered a foundational technology, essential for automating
customer-facing transactions. Customers are demanding the convenience of completing
an insurance transaction electronically through their channel of choice and
rewarding carriers and agents that give them the choice. And with the majority
of e-signature transactions launching from mobile devices by year 2020 as per
Forrester, carriers are focused on leveraging this new sales channel specifically
for their agents.
“We believe this partnership is key to gaining widespread adoption of e-signatures within complex distribution channels like the insurance industry,” said Silanis CEO and co-founder Tommy Petrogiannis. “When electronic signatures and e-policy delivery are offered as a tightly integrated solution as they are now thanks to Silanis and Ebix, both carriers and their producers win.”
Silanis CEO Tommy Petrogiannis added, “With the largest e-signature deployments already by carriers, this partnership shows the value of Silanis’ e-signature solution for the insurance industry, not only in enabling straight-through processing via Ebix’s many services but also in delivering the ultimate in compliance and electronic evidence.”
About Silanis
Silanis is the most widely used e-signature solution in the world, responsible
for processing more than 600 million documents annually. Founded in 1992, Silanis’
solutions e-Sign Enterprise and e-SignLive enable thousands of organizations,
including four of the top North American banks, eight of the top 15 insurance
companies and the entire US Army to accelerate business transactions, improve
customer experience and reduce costs while improving compliance with legal and
regulatory requirements. Silanis provides the most flexible deployment options
with its on-premise, cloud and SaaS e-signature solutions, eliminating manual,
paper-based processing and enabling e-commerce and e-government transactions
to be electronically executed from start to finish. http://www.silanis.com
About EbixExchange
EbixExchange is the division of Ebix, Inc. that focuses on straight through
processing for the insurance industry, encompassing CRM & agency management,
research, illustration, transaction processing, underwriting, distribution,
servicing of a policy and compliance automation for the insurance and financial
sectors. EbixExchange currently supports a broad range of insurance agencies,
brokerage & clearing firms, banks, wealth management firms and a variety
of other operations centers across multiple channels like annuities, life, health
& property & casualty insurance sectors.. EbixExchange's parent company,
Ebix, Inc., is a publicly-held corporation (Nasdaq: EBIX -News). For more information,
please visit http://www.ebixexchange.com.
About Ebix, Inc.
A leading international supplier of On-Demand software and E-commerce services
to the insurance industry, Ebix, Inc., (NASDAQ: EBIX) provides end-to-end solutions
ranging from infrastructure exchanges, carrier systems, agency systems and BPO
services to custom software development for all entities involved in the insurance
industry.
With 30+ offices across Brazil, Singapore, Australia, the US, New Zealand, India and Canada, Ebix powers multiple exchanges across the world in the field of life, annuity, health and property & casualty insurance while conducting in excess of $100 billion in insurance premiums on its platforms. Through its various SaaS-based software platforms, Ebix employs hundreds of insurance and technology professionals to provide products, support and consultancy to thousands of customers on six continents. Ebix’s focus on quality has enabled it to be awarded Level 5 status of the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute’s Capability Maturity Model (CMM). With a recent ISO 27001-security certification, the Company also has an ISO 9001:2000 certification for both its development and BPO units in India. For more information, visit the Company’s website at www.ebix.com.
CONTACT:
Silanis
Sarah Milner, Public Relations and Social Media Manager, 250-216-1768
or sarah_milner@silanis.com
Ebix
Neil van Helden, Marketing, 678-242-2824 or neil.vanhelden@ebix.com
Steven Barlow, IR, 678-281-2043 or steve.barlow@ebix.com