NAILBA Announces New Standard For Agency Management Systems
By Ara C. Trembly
The National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies has announced a new technology standard for agency management systems that it says will speed business processing.
According to Fairfax, Va.-based NAILBA, “the standard serves to expedite the processing of new business involving fixed annuity and fixed life insurance products by facilitating the exchange of policy information among insurance carriers and independent producers.”
The specifications of the new standard include implementation of the ACORD XMLife format, the association says.
Jeff Kraber, technology advocate for NAILBA, says the new standard will enable parties in the transactions to take advantage of the Internet. “Agents will be able to get more information from carriers” under the standard, he notes.
Agents can access the new standard in multiple ways, says Kraber, including from the technology section of NAILBAs Web site at http://www.nailba.org/technology/acord_standards.htm.
According to NAILBA, the new standard was facilitated by its Technology Committee, in collaboration with carriers and agency management system vendors.
The new standard can be downloaded to and will integrate with agency management systems from Integrated Insurance Technologies (formerly ZeBU) and AgencyWorks, among others, says Kraber. While no hardware upgrades are needed for those using these systems, he notes that “you would need their latest software.”