(Image source: Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance.)
Transamerica (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) has entered into an agreement with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS; Bangalore/New York), to enable the transformation of administration of its U.S. insurance and annuity business lines. The partnership aims to enable Transamerica to rapidly enhance its digital capabilities, simplify the service of more than 10 million policies into a single integrated modern platform, and drive greater sustainable growth opportunities through superior customer experiences, according to a vendor announcement. The multi-year agreement is worth more than $2 billion in revenue, the largest contract signed by TCS to date.
Mark Mullin, President and CEO, Transamerica.
“Transamerica continues to put our customers at the forefront of everything we do,” comments Mark Mullin, President and CEO, Transamerica. “I’m very excited to embark on this partnership with TCS, whose transformation and technology innovation capabilities will supplement our focus on improving our customers’ experience in a digitally enabled way.”
Supporting Growth in All Business Lines
Mullin says the relationship with TCS will support meaningful growth in all business lines, including insurance and annuities, advancing the company’s competitive positioning. “TCS was carefully selected because of their significant, ongoing investments in technology and their expertise in the insurance and annuity industry,” Mullin relates. “TCS’s core competencies complement ours. TCS will provide valuable administration and quality customer service, and Transamerica will continue to engage with our customers, clients and advisors in the most meaningful ways to them by utilizing our digital engagement platforms and developing new solutions that help people save, protect, invest and retire.”
Rajesh Gopinathan, CEO and Managing Director, TCS.
The partnership is directed at enabling the transformation of the administration of Transamerica’s life insurance, annuity, supplemental health insurance, and workplace voluntary benefits products, according to TCS. It will also support the company’s overall transition to a simplified, cloud-enabled platform for agile new product development, enhanced services, acquisitions, and strategic innovation investments, the vendor says. The agreement is expected to lead to annual run-rate savings of approximately $70 million initially for Transamerica, eventually growing to $100 million. The majority is expected to benefit underlying earnings.
“TCS is helping to guide many of today’s leading companies through their business 4.0 journeys, in building their digital spines, becoming more agile, creating superior customer experiences, and driving exponential growth,” comments Rajesh Gopinathan, CEO and Managing Director, TCS. “We have invested heavily in our insurance digital platform, TCS BaNCS, and our extensive U.S. capabilities, and are proud to partner with Transamerica in its ongoing transformation and welcome the transitioning employees to promising new careers at TCS.”
The TCS BaNCS digital platform has enjoyed considerable success in the European market for more than a decade, with more than 17 million policies under administration, according to the vendor. The company describes the platform as a complete, open architecture solution with an integrated business rules engine, encompassing policy administration, data management, integrated imaging, and workflow administration. TCS has adapted the platform for the U.S. market to meet its operational and regulatory needs.
Suresh Muthuswami, President and Global Head, Insurance, TCS.
“TCS continuously invests in the latest technologies, local talent and U.S. facilities to help leading U.S. companies adapt to rapidly evolving customer demands,” comments Suresh Muthuswami, President and Global Head, Banking, Financial Services and Insurance Platforms, TCS. “This agreement with Transamerica marks TCS’ entry into a highly specialized U.S. Insurance Third Party Administration marketplace and will establish TCS BaNCS as a formidable digital platform for the U.S. Insurance industry.”
Ensuring Continuity of Customer Experience and Protecting Jobs
TCS reports that it will make job offers to all of the applicable Transamerica employees currently supporting the life insurance, annuity, supplemental health insurance, and workplace voluntary benefits business lines, with a view toward protecting both the quality of customer experience and approximately 2,200 American jobs. Employees transitioning to TCS will be given the opportunity to remain in the same U.S. cities where they are currently based. TCS will also expand its existing relationship with Transamerica under this transaction, and locate in Transamerica’s current offices in various U.S. cities.
TCS plans to make a significant investment in the region, most notably by establishing its new North American insurance hub for business operations in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Beyond offering roles to 2,200 Transamerica employees across U.S cities, TCS says it plans to hire locally in Iowa, set up relationships with educational institutions, and help employees with professional development to gain digital skills and fluency. TCS says it will also work with state and local leaders, and community organizations to bring its flagship education programs, such as goIT and Ignite My Future In School to students, educators, schools, and communities across Iowa.
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