Core Transformation for Multi-Country Product Modeling

In advance of launching our full review, here is a sneak peek of some key considerations for multi-country product modeling.

Multi-country product modeling: Key core transformation considerations (Part 1)

Cover vs. coverage. Motor vs. auto. Forms vs. PDS. Excesses vs. limits. Policy change vs. endorsement. Rider vs. term. This is just a short list of sometimes confusing global insurance terms. Global multi-national insurance executives are familiar with these and many other challenges intrinsic to providing goods and services across international boundaries. Providing insurance can often be convoluted at best, and downright complex when managing the currencies used to procure them. Impediments can be simply market or they may include federal tax laws, financial regulations, sending moneys to out-of-country vendors, honoring reinsurance treaties with investment, and even paying claims to policyholders in out-of-country currencies in the middle of the night. 

Is there a viable business case for marketing different lines of business across international borders? The answer for many carriers is “yes.” Appropriately, the need to harmonize products, packages, and coverages with innumerable yet similar terms and limits becomes a high value proposition. This three-part series will explore how global carriers are addressing these concerns and emerging from core transformations in an even better position to compete.

With the continued growth of APAC as a global financial services leader, multi-brand, multi-country product offerings, supporting multicurrency pricing is becoming a critical component for businesses needing to serve its clients in more than international locale.  

For multi-national entities with a diverse geographic footprint, the implementation and configuration of both the product line of business and its symbiotic rating component is an integral part of any policy administration system project. Out-of-the-box, most best of breed policy systems provide carriers with a fully functional line of business configurator, or a rating engine encapsulating the requisite need to be nimble to market demands. These systems inherently support both in-house and third-party integrations, allowing for any number of legacy systems to be coupled with a core ERP, supporting a “home,” or reporting currency. 

Multi-country carriers in the midst of digital transformation have unique needs requiring both multi-jurisdiction and multicurrency functionalities, including integration with real-time and batch foreign exchange systems, and tracking time stamped financial movements in each currency. How does a global, multi-national insurance carrier support different, yet essentially similar, product offerings with effectively no boundaries, while simultaneously digitally transforming its core systems? This sizable paradigm shift requires robust support of multi-country product offerings, market specific brand characteristics, and multicurrency transactions, whether one is transacting business in yen, rubles, euros, or dollars.

Assessing off the shelf policy administration system features and functionalities is a key consideration during a core digital transformation program. Proceeding with a digital transformation effort, the global multinational carrier risks homogenizing its go to market product, thereby losing significant brand advantage. How does the disparate organization, supporting numerous brand specific packages and offerings, progress with core transformation? Our next post has answers.