
(Image credit: Markus Winkler.)
MS Amlin (London), a global specialty insurer and reinsurer, has chosen Socotra (San Francisco) as the core backend system for its new digital SME insurance initiative. MS Amlin is a subsidiary of the global top 10 insurance group MS&AD with operations in Lloyd’s, Europe, and Bermuda.
The new SME insurance platform by MS Amlin employs a digital-first distribution approach and emphasizes the (re)insurer’s commitment to small and medium-sized enterprises in Europe, according to a Socotra statement. The product will initially launch in Belgium, the Netherlands, the U.K., and France with product offerings that include fleet, commercial liability, property, and commercial package offerings. The digital proposition aims to enhance all areas of the insurance value chain, including claims and finance, the Socotra statement says.
“Insurers are increasingly turning to cloud-based, API-enabled core systems to deliver new digital experiences to their clients,” comments Celent Senior Analyst, Craig Beattie. “It is heartening to see a long-standing (re)insurer embracing digital transformation for their SME business in Europe and beyond.”
“MS Amlin has always put the service we offer our clients and brokers first and foremost,” comments Ted Aerts, COO, MS Amlin Insurance S.E. “By investing in new digital capabilities our ambition is to truly enhance the experience of working with MS Amlin. We believe Socotra understands how important customer experience is to us, and we believe their platform and approach is best able to support this.”
Foundation to Improve Service
“Socotra creates a foundation to improve our service and, in turn, our customer and broker experiences, and it will also help improve our agility in reacting to changing market trends,” Aerts continues. “Their core technology is more advanced than other options we evaluated in the marketplace for our digital-focused initiative.”
MS Amlin chose Socotra because of its modern core platform and open APIs, which allow for seamless integration with MS Amlin’s legacy systems and its new centralized data storage platform, according to the vendor statement. As a cloud-native platform, Socotra says it enables a fully digital insurance backend that allows quotes and rate changes to be deployed in real-time.
“We are delighted that MS Amlin has chosen Socotra to launch its new digital SME insurance initiative,” comments Dan Woods, CEO, Socotra. “I’m proud to say Socotra is the only core system with a powerful data model and open APIs that allows MS Amlin to offer its traditional and non-traditional products while accelerating product development timelines.”
Remote Implementation
Socotra reports that its cloud-native platform enabled MS Amlin to begin the implementation process remotely—a task that would be significantly more challenging on legacy platforms due to the ongoing health crisis. The first end-to-end digital product offerings are expected to be launched in the first half of 2021.