successes
eLynx uSign Electronic Signatures—Powering Allianz Income Management Services’ Paperless Vision
CUSTOMER PROFILE
Allianz Income Management Services (AIMS) develops and markets immediate income products to the emerging retirement income market. The company was founded upon a vision of using current and cutting-edge technology to provide faster, more efficient and more productive service. AIMS’ goal is to achieve an entirely paperless process, establishing a virtual office through which agents gain anytime, anywhere access to the tools needed to sell the products marketed by AIMS.
The company actively targets the 60 million Americans who will turn 60 over the next 30 years. Initially funded by Allianz of America, Inc., AIMS projects 2007 revenues between $400 and $500 million, with 2008 growth expected to reach between $1.5 and $2 billion.
BUSINESS SITUATION
With its launch in August 2006, AIMS marked a definitive leap forward in the insurance industry. From its inception AIMS has focused on creating a wireless, paperless company that takes full advantage of technology in order to cater to agents offering new income annuity products within the emerging retirement market. To achieve the cost reductions, speed to market and customer service necessary to capitalize on this opportunity, AIMS relys on third-party service providers to accomplish its goals.
Quickly attracting and retaining independent agents to sell products marketed by AIMS is key to achieving rapid market penetration. In order to successfully begin the execution of AIMS’ vision of a technology-forward, paperless organization, the company needed to streamline and apply digital processes to the historically paper-based agent consent process.
STRATEGY
AIMS understood from the start that establishing paperless operations would best position the company to capture its target market through a combination of efficiency, service and electronic document communication. By partnering with eLynx, providers of the nation’s largest secure electronic communications network for financial services, AIMS solved the problem of agent consent by integrating electronic Web forms with eLynx’s industry-leading uSign electronic signature service.
Given AIMS’ reliance on third-party service providers, it was imperative that the uSign solution fit seamlessly and work flawlessly in conjunction with other services
as well as AIMS’ own internal architecture. eLynx has a long and impressive history of successfully accomplishing just such challenges.
SOLUTION
eLynx brought to the table its unique understanding of and vision for electronic signatures, working with AIMS in a consultative fashion to determine just how and where uSign would best fit into AIMS’ processes. uSign, a Web-based service with little to no upfront costs, works as well with cutting-edge Service Oriented Architectures (SOA) as with legacy systems. In AIMS’ case, striving for paperless operations from the outset, uSign was integrated into Microsoft’s .NET platform.
Agents fill out and electronically sign consent forms via the Web, the forms then are instantaneously transmitted to and transferred into AIMS’ systems. The uSign component eliminates the lag time for agents to request, receive, complete and mail back paper-based consent forms; side-steps the need to handle and process the forms on AIMS’ end; and completely strips the paper from the process, resulting in significant cost reductions.
RESULTS
The Web-based nature of uSign and its ability to work in concert with other third-party services used by AIMS was key to the initiative’s success. In implementing an electronic process to complete consents for appointed agents AIMS significantly improved accuracy and efficiency – which reduced cycle time and costs. uSign delivers AIMS a faster and auditable consent process which is key to capturing the lucrative and expanding retirement income management market.
By applying the electronic signature process to the Web-based agent consent forms AIMS saw a process which historically took as many as three to four days become an instantaneous digital transfer. In addition to cost reduction, the process also produces fewer errors, boosting quality. More accurate, timely information makes data available for further use in other applications, such as Salesforce.com. This deployment of a self-service Web form and a secure compliant electronic signing ceremony dramatically increases AIMS’ penetration into an 180,000 independent agent base.
As AIMS continues to fulfill its vision and expands the reach of its operations and variety of products offered, the partnership with eLynx will only increase in its value to the company.