ALLIANZ LIFE LUXEMBOURG IS INTRODUCING THE CREATION OF ONLINE FORMS AND ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES AS PART OF THE DIGITISATION OF ITS INSURANCE POLICY FILES.
Digitisation and online storage of files, online forms, electronic signature… Allianz Life Luxembourg has just taken a major step in its digital transformation. Two factors have triggered this change. The first was the observation by ACA Insurance Day 2015 that Luxembourg was lagging behind in terms of digitalisation, recalls Patrick Bouckaert, Director of IT & Organization Department, Allianz Life Luxembourg. The second was the launch by the more than 100-year-old group of the “Renewal Agenda”, supported within Allianz Benelux by the Xcelerate programme, which includes, among other things, two work areas: “Customer centricity” and “Digital by default”.
Customers expect the same quality and flexibility from our products and services as they receive from other large companies like Amazon or Google,” says Patrick Bouckaert. It’s up to us to learn from these experiences, to exceed expectations and to ensure that each of our customers becomes a loyal and confident supporter of our brand, our products and our people. This is what we call customer centricity. Secondly, Digital by default: the internet, smartphones, digitalisation and other technological developments are radically changing the expectations of our customers and are a challenge for ‘classic’ companies like ours. We need to become a fully digital company to be able to offer our customers what they want: easy-to-understand products and fast, efficient processes, regardless of the device or channel used…”
Based on these findings, Allianz Life Luxembourg launched its digital transformation, starting with the stabilisation of the foundations. The first step was dematerialisation, with the aim of eliminating paper in favour of electronic document management.
The time was right. Allianz Life Luxembourg could rely on the legislation (Luxembourg law of 25 July 2015) on archiving, which allows copies of paper and digital documents to be kept electronically with the same evidential value as the original document, provided that they are managed and kept by a service provider that has obtained the status of PSDC (Dematerialisation or Conservation Service Provider). Also on the adoption (on 1 July 2016) of the EU Regulation EU 910/2014 eIDAS on electronic identification and trust services allowing also to confer a European legal value to digital trust services, such as electronic signature and time stamping.
Part 1: Digitisation and electronic storage of life insurance policy files
The objective of this first key phase was to increase the productivity of managers by facilitating the search for information, while guaranteeing its long-term archiving on a secure and highly available platform. To achieve this, Allianz Life Luxembourg chose to collaborate with Labgroup, an expert in the field of information lifecycle management, to carry out this first stage of the project: the digitisation and centralisation of life insurance policy files in a single archiving tool – an SAE (Système d’Archivage Electronique).
After a needs analysis, Labgroup consultants and the Allianz Life Luxembourg project team created a specific filing plan based on Allianz Life Luxembourg’s core activities; policy management, policyholder management, partner management and regulatory aspects.
The day-to-day digitisation of documents was carried out by the managers using specific indexing sheets. These digitised and indexed documents are automatically sent to the SAE platform, hosted and operated by Labgroup, within its own infrastructure in Luxembourg. Thanks to its various certifications, Labgroup guarantees the highest confidentiality and security of information to its clients.
To further optimise workflows, while minimising classification risks, a system with QR codes has been implemented. These codes are inserted as soon as documents are created and allow users to file their documents directly.
End-users can authenticate to the SAE platform securely and easily through their main account, accessing information specific to their function (granular access). Offering services adapted to the needs of Allianz Life Luxembourg users, Labgroup has developed alerts on missing or expired documents, thus making it possible to warn managers of actions to be taken.
Part 2: Creation of an online electronic form
After the implementation of this first stage of dematerialisation, Allianz Life Luxembourg entrusted Jway, publisher of the FormPublisher and FormSolution software packages, which transform all administrative or commercial processes of companies into intelligent web services for the project of creating online forms.
Jway’s intervention was spread over two phases: putting the Guichet partenaire online and creating the forms, then integrating the electronic signature into the processing of the forms, in close collaboration with the company Nowina.
With Jway’s FormSolution, Allianz Life Luxembourg was able to implement an online service platform including a SmartForms to record the management actions of partners directly online, while guaranteeing the highest level of security and confidentiality of data.
This project, which was completed in a few months, saves time and efficiency for the platform’s users thanks to the Jway solution. This approach also has the advantage of being less costly than a specific development. As a first step, and in close collaboration with Allianz Life Luxembourg’s teams, Jway developed “responsive” online forms, personalised and adapted to the partners’ needs. This development phase was carried out within the framework of an AGILE methodology to perfectly meet the needs.
In order to seamlessly integrate the online services platform into Allianz’s global partner management solution, Jway carried out a secure integration into the Allianz Life Luxembourg extranet. The objective of this integration was to facilitate the online implementation of any new approach according to the Lego principle recommended by Jway.
Part 3: Integration of the electronic signature into electronic forms
Finally, Allianz Life Luxembourg called on the company Nowina Solutions to implement electronic signatures. The aim is to transform business processes to achieve greater efficiency.
As part of Allianz Life Luxembourg’s digitalisation process, Nowina helped define the most suitable e-signature solution, i.e. one that offers an efficient user experience while remaining scalable in terms of eIDAS-compliant signature means and technologies enabling the use of a legally binding electronic signature.
Allianz Life Luxembourg has chosen Nowina’s EVA signature platform. This platform offers a “responsive” signature portal, in “white label”, which allows the sharing of documents between the various signatories. Strengths: the solution can be deployed in Allianz Life Luxembourg’s infrastructure and is easily integrated into existing processes by providing a web API covering all signature functionalities.
Taking into account the client’s needs, the common thread of the approach
By accelerating its digital transformation, Allianz Life Luxembourg wanted to get closer to the services offered on the French market. The insurer has already met some of its objectives: to offer a platform to its partners and customers that can be accessed from different devices (PC, laptop, tablet, smartphone); to increase the quality of service, efficiency and productivity; to open up access to data in a secure manner; and to support business growth.
“Digital technology should enable us to optimise our activities even further and bring added value to our partners and clients. Taking the customer into account is the guiding principle of our projects,” insists Olivier Robin, Deputy CEO, Allianz Life Luxembourg.
There is still a long way to go. Allianz Life Luxembourg has other developments in the pipeline. In particular, the aggregation platforms will be supplied with details of movements on a daily basis, it will be possible to monitor the progress of applications submitted per contract, and the extranet platform will be enhanced with all the documents associated with the management of contracts…
“Of course, we remain attentive to technological developments such as Robot Process Automation, Artificial intelligence, blockchain and chatbot, for which we can rely on the group and, in particular, on Allianz Benelux, with whom we share these subjects,” concludes Patrick Bouckaert. In short, if a major step has been taken, others will follow.
THE 3 PROJECT PARTNERS
° Labgroup, information management and archiving solutions
Since 1977, Labgroup has been helping organisations maintain compliance with legal requirements while improving the efficiency of their information management.
Labgroup’s range of services includes the digitisation of paper documents, storage and destruction of physical archives, capture and preservation of electronic archives, data backup and restoration and preservation of computer media.
The CSSF (Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier) and ILNAS (Institut Luxembourgeois de la Normalisation, de l’Accréditation, de la Sécurité et qualité des produits et services) supervise Labgroup as a Financial Sector Professional (FSP) and PSDC (Dematerialisation and Custody Service Provider). Labgroup is also ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 27001:2013 certified.
° Jway digitises all forms and administrative processes in the form of intelligent web services
Jway provides and implements a complete online services platform including an e-process generator. Jway’s solution allows you to model forms and administrative or business processes to create any online service with agility from the request to its final validation and offers a virtual counter that manages files and interactions with users. With FormSolution, Jway makes it possible to easily operate and manage procedures and files on an online counter, regardless of the functional complexity of the form or process; with FormPublisher, Jway offers the possibility of easily and quickly creating any form or e-service without any IT technicalities as part of an agile approach.
° Nowina, complete solutions for dematerialisation of processes including electronic signature
Founded in May 2014, Nowina Solutions provides strong signature and authentication solutions, paperless business solutions and assists companies in thinking about how best to take advantage of eIDAS-related dematerialisation opportunities.
Nowina draws on its unique expertise in interoperable electronic signatures and digitised solutions, as well as strong business knowledge in the financial services, public and private sectors.
The offering enables a smooth transition to full digitalisation and brings additional opportunities beyond the simple digital experience by introducing interoperability as the next driver of growth and competitive advantage.