IVANS and Brussels-based Reinsurance and Insurance Network formed a partnership offering U.S. reinsurers, ceding companies and reinsurance brokers EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) services for domestic and international reinsurance transactions. RETACCs, REBORDs and RESETTs already are being exchanged via EDI. These messages include technical accounting, bordereau and settlement advice, respectively.
The continued globalization of the reinsurance business is one of the forces driving the reinsurance community to strive to do business electronically.
In order to improve electronic transmission of reinsurance information, representatives of the international reinsurance community are establishing a common set of EDI standards for industrywide use. Representatives from Reinsurance Association of America (RAA); the Broker and Reinsurance Markets Association (BRMA); the London Insurance Market (LIMNET); and RINET have formed an organization--the "Joint Venture"--to accomplish this goal.
IVANS EDI Services features an electronic mailboxing system for the worldwide transmission, storage and retrieval of data. It allows users to send and receive virtually any information in any electronic form.
The IVANS/RINET program offers reinsurance and EDI knowledge, software products and enabling and support services, and the network to connect business partners electronically. With RINET furnishing reinsurance EDI expertise and IVANS contributing marketing presence and technical support, the program also offers facilitating services including training and consulting, documentation, testing and trading partner implementation.
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Late last year, the CPCU (Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters) Society announced that it had teamed up with IVANS to offer an "easy, inexpensive means of accessing online services," according to a Society spokesperson. The announcement was made at the Society's 52nd annual meeting in October.
Hundreds of attendees at the annual meeting received free Internet start-up disks. The disks included Internet connection software for Windows, a dialer, e-mail, Netscape browser, online registration and an immediate connection to the CPCU Society's interactive Web site. The start-up disk also features a 30-day free unlimited trial for new Internet users.
"We want to ensure that, first and foremost, all of our members have the opportunity to access the kind of professional information they need to be successful electronically," says Jim Marks, CPCU, AIM, executive vice president of the CPCU Society. "In addition, we wanted to go beyond that scope and offer our members, as well as others, an easy, competitively priced means of accessing the Internet, including the educational and consumer resources available on the Society's own home page."
Internet users can take advantage of unlimited access to the Internet through the CPCU Society for $19.95 per month, or utilize three hours per month of Internet time for a $4.95 monthly fee. The program offers full access to all Internet applications and utilities through a reliable, high-performance network with 24-hour support, seven days a week.
Dan Carmichael, CPCU, president and CEO of IVANS, notes that IVANS offers "more than 500 local access points across the country, ensuring a high quality connection to the Internet at any time."
Persons interested in the CPCU Society Internet Access program, which includes the 30-day free unlimited trial, should call 1-800-548-2675 and mention "CPCU." Information on Society events is available at http://cpcusociety.org. The Society interactive Web site, the "Virtual Insurance Community," is scheduled to debut this month.
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