How Guidewire Users Benefit from Embedded Payment Solutions

Between rising customer expectations, unrelenting cost pressures, disruptive new competitors, and ever-increasing regulations, property and casualty (P&C) insurers have a lot stacked against them.

Making payouts to policyholders shouldn’t be another obstacle to a P&C insurer’s growth.

Many P&C insurers are still making most of their payouts to policyholders via paper checks. The problem is that paper checks are expensive, they drain staff productivity, they take a long time to produce and reconcile, they are vulnerable to fraud, and they don’t provide cash-back rewards.

None of this is to suggest that electronic payments are a panacea.

In many cases, P&C insurers make electronic payments using standalone systems for each payment method. Staff must generate files for each payment type from Guidewire, log into multiple systems or bank portals to initiate and manage payments, send claims documents to policyholders separately, reconcile multiple bank statements, and waste lots of time chasing down policyholders information.

P&C insurers need a better way to make and manage policyholder payouts.

What is An Embedded Payment Solution?

Most insurtech initiatives focus on issuance, underwriting, and claims – not payments.

That’s where embedded payment solutions come in.

Embedded payment solutions integrate directly into Guidewire and other existing software, enabling insurers to make and manage disbursements from within the familiar screens of their legacy system.

Embedded payments empower Guidewire users to transform policyholder payouts in four ways:

Streamlined Disbursements

Embedded payment solutions eliminate friction in the way that policyholder payouts are made. P&C insurers can initiate single or mass disbursements in real-time, or schedule them for later, with just a few clicks of the mouse from within their Guidewire system. Payments can be made electronically from any originating bank account. And directly integrating a payment solution with Guidewire means that payments can be reconciled in real-time, eliminating the need to rekey data or manage multiple spreadsheets.

Better User Experience

Embedded payment solutions make it easy for Guidewire users to pay policyholders in their preferred method, including Automated Clearinghouse (ACH), Real-Time Payment, virtual card, or Mastercard Send. Compared to paper checks, electronic payments arrive faster (some in real-time), can’t become lost in the mail, are less likely to be intercepted by fraudsters, and don’t require a special trip to the bank. Policyholders also receive digital copies of claims documents with their payment notification. And embedding an electronic payment solution in Guidewire eliminates the rekeying that can lead to errors.

Enhanced Visibility

Consolidating all disbursements onto one, the pre-integrated platform provides better visibility into payments. All pending, in-process, and completed payments can be instantly viewed from a single dashboard. And historical payment information can be effortlessly queried using search criteria such as the payment amount, date, or policyholder.

Intuitive Onboarding

Registering to receive electronic payments can overwhelm some policyholders, standing in the way of electronic payments adoption. Embedded payment solutions overcome this challenge with built-in onboarding capabilities. Policyholders receive an SMS or e-mail notification of an approved claim. A link in the SMS or e-mail guides the policyholder through the onboarding process. Using their mobile device, the policyholder verifies their identity, reviews claim documents, provides a digital signature agreeing with the information, chooses a payment method, and inputs banking details.

Embedded payments solutions are what Guidewire users and other P&C insurers need to deliver a better customer experience while achieving new levels of operational efficiency.

We invite you to visit us at Connections 2021, November 1-4, in Las Vegas.

Click here to arrange a meeting with us at the conference to discuss your needs.