You’ve Got Mail: Two Decades Later, Why Are We Still Talking About E-Delivery Rather Than Doing It?
Abstract
The march toward digitization in the life new business and policy servicing process continues. Celent explores the current state of e-delivery processes and usage across life insurers in North America.
From humble beginnings in the early 1970s, email has evolved to be the most widely used technology on the Internet. The use of email to send documents is the most obvious use case for digital. The compelling question is why electronic delivery in life insurance is still not mainstream.
Celent surveyed life insurers to understand the adoption of e-delivery within their organizations. Areas of focus within the report You’ve Got Mail: Two Decades Later, Why Are We Still Talking About E-Delivery Rather Than Doing It? include:
- Progress of e-delivery.
- Documents most likely to be e-delivered.
- Benefits and challenges associated with e-delivery.
Celent’s analysis is based upon a survey of 17 North American insurers varying in size and distribution.
Only 25% of surveyed life insurance companies have adopted e-delivery. For many insurers, the pursuit of e-delivery has been hampered by the challenges of legacy systems and limited budgets. However, all the insurers surveyed believe that e-delivery is a worthwhile project and are prioritizing it along with other digital initiatives.
“Insurers are aware of the benefits of moving to e-delivery,” says Colleen Risk, a senior analyst with Celent’s Insurance practice and author of the report. “As they plan their budgets for the coming year, e-delivery will be a priority for many. Life insurers in particular are being left behind in the digital race and need to move forward with haste to catch up.”