Fiserv Insurance Solutions Survey Identifies Administrative Efficiency as Insurance Carriers’ Top Business Need

Columbia, S.C., October 22, 2008 – Fiserv Insurance Solutions, a leading provider of innovative technology, professional services and strategic sourcing options, announced today the results of its third annual online survey on property and casualty (P&C) insurance technology. The results identify critical business needs and the projects and technologies insurance carriers have underway to address them.

Eighty-seven percent of survey participants responded that policy administration, the core system for maintaining insurance coverage information, was most likely to be one of the next three large-scale projects they tackle. Policy administration has led the large-scale projects response for three years, up from 75 percent in the 2007 survey. The second place response following policy administration was claims projects at 44 percent. Claims projects have also increased steadily for three years.

Both policy administration and claims projects dovetailed with the business needs that participants identified: enhancing overall administrative efficiency (65 percent) and access for distribution channels (52 percent). Accurate pricing of risk and flexible billing options tied as the third top business need at 44 percent each.

Respondents noted that the top three most important technologies for their organization included service oriented architecture (55 percent), business process management (50 percent), and data accessibility layer technology (32 percent). Java technology tied with .NET at 23 percent.

“The results show a focus on efficiency with strong interest in diverse systems working together easily and in component-based architecture,” said Todd Eyler, chief technology officer of Fiserv Insurance. “Creating system interfaces eats up large blocks of time, and insurers are interested in technology that solves that challenge so they can work on significant issues like customer service and business management.”

“We see continued carrier interest in streamlining operations and more efficient information sharing with agents for better customer service,” said Gary Sherne, president of the P&C Division of Fiserv Insurance Solutions. “We have noteworthy experience in delivering successful Java-based technology for nearly a decade, and we have a road map to the next major development in insurance technology that will be announced at major conferences in November. Greater efficiency lies just ahead.”