The subject of this article in InsuranceNetworking News is “Allstate: New Mobile Claims Payments Faster ThanEFT.” In my experience the problem isnot the delivery of funds, it is the slow agony of having a claim recognized asvalid and then approved. Fix that partand the payment can take four days to be received and I’ll still be ahead ofthe game. That said, I guess anythingthat shrinks a 3 week to two month effort by two or three days is a good thing,so Allstate has implemented a payment mechanism with Bank of America MerrillLynch:
‘Allstate’senterprise wide focus on innovation has reached what’s been called the momentof truth for insurers: The time when a claim is paid.
Thecompany’s newly launched Fast Mobile e-Payment method is faster than evenelectronic funds transfer, Allstate claims. Created through a partnership withBank of America Merrill Lynch, the digital disbursement method allows customersto collect payments with only a mobile phone number or e-mail address.
“TheFast Mobile e-Payment option is available to our customers, claimants and vendors,”Allstate Claims VP Shawn Broadfield tells Insurance Networking News. “We wantedto be able to offer more options for claim payments and speed up the overallpayment process. Fast Mobile e-Payment allows us to get the spendable funds outfaster than any current method.”
Customerswho opt into Fast Mobile e-Payment must provide their phone number or e-mailaddress, perform a one-time registration and will have funds deposited intotheir account nearly instantaneously. The option is available for any kind ofclaim, as long as there is only one payee.
Inassociation with the new launch, Allstate has branded all its claims paymentsmethods into a portfolio called Allstate ExpressPay.
“Thatincludes all of our previous methods like direct deposit or check and it willalso include any future innovations in the payment space for us,” Broadfieldadds. “We continue to innovate in this area and you’ll hear more from us soonon that.”
Overview by Tim Sloane, VP of Payments Innovation for Mercator Advisory Group
Read full article at Insurance Networking News