ebix.com to work as infrastructure provider for insurance sector

To meet the insurance needs of both the
consumers and insurance professionals, ebix.com Inc is
concentrating on providing the robust infrastructure to the
insurance sector, in the first phase of its operations in India.
The company is looking for some joint ventures in this regard.
Thus, the company would provide agency/broker management system
created by insurance professionals, to serve the needs of each
insurance segment in the country.

ebix.com would create a virtual
marketplace ‘ebix.mall’, where consumers can define
their policy coverage and seek competitive quotes from a number
of carriers or agents/brokers in a timeframe defined by the
consumer. This would allow the consumers to compare prices in a
non-threatening environment and buy insurance online, if they so
desire.

Robin Raina, President and CEO, ebix.com,
said, "Since in India the insurance sector was deregulated
last year, it is very necessary to build the infrastructure for
consumers and insurance professionals. Therefore in the first
year of our operations in the country we will try to do this and
try to reach the breakeven in about 18 months. In this regard,
the role of IRDA is very important and it should help in
providing the infrastructure to the insurance sector." He
added that earlier company was working on a brick-n-mortar model,
but now it is a full fledged e-business company.

ebix.com would also incorporate powerful
and secure business tools for agents and brokers, including the
workflow and management engine ‘ebix.link’. This
workflow engine, launched in January 1999, would save insurance
professionals up to 70 percent in time, energy and costs
associated with processing day-to-day transactions.

ebixASP, the industry's first WAP-enabled
industry management system, will host the entire suite of
applications and technology services for professionals, which are
required to run an agency. ebix.com eAgency suite would provide
the technology and services to the insurance agencies required,
to build and maintain an e-commerce functional website, all in a
cost-effective manner.

ebix.com would offer complete convergence
of both B2C and B2B capabilities, allowing consumers to purchase
policies, and insurance professionals to exchange paperwork,
online through a single site. The portal has developed
proprietary XML technology that interfaces with each carrier's
individual rating engine, providing consumers with real-time
fixed policy quotes and eliminating the need to pick up the phone
to complete the transaction.

ebix.com was earlier known as Delphi
Information Systems. The name change to ebix.com aligns the
identity of the company with its strategic focus of using the
Internet to enhance the way insurance business is transacted,
through solutions that encompass both e-commerce and Web-enabled
agency management systems. (CNS)