'Very safe' interview to Ona's Rose, former president of TOP and director of Corridors Zurich; is Higinio Iglesias, CEO of ebroker, president of AETMA and CEO of E2K. The objective is to understand in depth what the mediated digital signature project consists of, what stage of development it is in and what advantages it will give to the different protagonists of the insurance industry affected by it.
The mediated digital signature project is being worked on by all parties involved in the sectoral transformation, both brokerages and technology companies. It is 98% developed and will be operational at the beginning of July. «The project will come to light at the end of June", Explain Rose of Oña. «We are currently finishing the process so that it can be automated«, clarifies. «Both aspects, CIMA and the technological ones, are the protagonists of the development and implementation of the digital signature project«.
In the 21st century, it is reasonable that contracts, especially in financial services such as insurance activity, are formalized.
Higinio Iglesias
What need drove the development of the project?
The mediated digital signature project is a request from the brokers' associations: ADECOSE transfers it to UNESPA and the request reaches CIMA from the employers' association. «We wanted the insurance sector to work to have greater regulatory security. Today companies have their own signatures through their ERPs, but they are not mediated signatures; That's where the need comes from. The mediator is not informed of when the signed policy arrives to the client nor can he validate that the data and documentation as a whole is correct.", Explain of Oña. A year and a half ago, CIMA approved it as a project, which is complex and in which the main need is for it to be a mediated digital signature: for the mediator to be in the middle of the process.
Higinio Iglesias details: «In the 21st century, it is reasonable that contracts, especially in financial services such as insurance activity, are formalized«. Churches refers to banking, where all processes are digitalized: «This suggests that the insurance sector is also moving towards formalizing documents and insurance policies.. 48,43% of insurance activity is mediated; 25% of it is through insurance brokers. «There are many insurance contracts involving mediators, in this case brokers. If we have to address how we digitally formalize these contracts, it is clear that it was necessary to launch the project that would address this problem.«, He says.
The contracts that insurers have today must end in a contractual acceptance by the contracting party, the policyholder. «The runners are in that transit and must participate in the process«Details the president of AETMA. «At the level of technological implementation, the process has its difficulties. We are talking about a digital signature process, contractual, of an insurance contract, where there is an entity between the contracting party and the insurer, which is the broker, and has a role«, clarifies. This role falls on the technology available to the mediator. «Hence the value of technology within the project.. "We are facing a very important project within the digital transformation of the sector."
The methodology has been to row together. It just goes faster; together, further away. It is a very important milestone within the insurance sector.
Ona's Rose
How has the work methodology been: key difficulties that are being addressed
The former president of CIMA assures that: «The methodology has been to row together. It just goes faster; together, further away. It is a very important milestone within the insurance sector«. Today, in CIMA there are 38 insurance companies, 28 technology companies, 2.000 insurance brokers, 4 broker associations and TIREA. «The difficulty is to all go at the same pace«Assures Ona's Rose. "Technologically, it is a very complex project. Companies have to coordinate their IT areas and allocate budget. We must advance at the same time, coordinating its implementation with technological«. From Ona recognizes that not all brokers saw it as a priority issue within their digital transformation developments. «However, everyone came to the conclusion that a sector that represents 5% of the GDP must have regulatory security and have signed policies.«.
Churches highlights that: «Within this complex process, the most important thing and what has worked is that there has been a dialogue in which we have come to understand each other.«. The president of AETMA highlights the importance of the technology companies that concentrate the technology of insurance brokers, and that two years ago they joined together, giving rise to AETMA. "We wanted to simplify and find a common point. For some sector projects, we thought it was good to partner and we did so«, clarifies.
At what stage of maturity is the project?
After a year and a half of work, today the project is being integrated to be automated. «Another added difficulty is that, at the end of the entire process, there is a final supplier who certifies the signature," details of Oña. "CIMA works with more than 7 digital signature providers. This adds complexity to the process, with a new entity to coordinate«. Today the project is finishing the integration into the ERP. The former president of CIMA specifies that: «So far we have made the company connection to TIREA. Now we are finishing joining the TIREA process to the ERP, so that it is an automated process. From there, it is sent to the client. We are, therefore, in the phase of finalizing the automation in the ERP.«.
Churches adds that: «The project will mature when it becomes a reality«. For the president of AETMA: «Now we are at a point where we have to put something very complex into production. Everyone has to play a part. Each technology company will offer its own differential services that will characterize its role within the entire macro-project.«. And he assures that: «All technology companies agree on the process model. But there is a part that will distinguish each of them, which will be the user experience. This, from its implementation, will have to mature and polish the difficulties that arise in the first phase of testing and launch. It is a simple process from a business point of view, but very complex from a technological implementation point of view.«. «We all have a clear interest in making sure the process works and does so as quickly as possible. We must also be understanding and not forget the consumer, an essential part towards whom the signing process is focused.«, Concludes Churches.
Ona's Rose ensures that the process must be made very simple for the consumer client. «It is a simple, standardized, homogeneous process and this will make implementation easier.«. Once launched, beyond the technology, there will be a new challenge to face: «The most difficult thing is managing change in human beings«explains the former president of CIMA. «We are disseminating, communicating and working very well on the issue of digital signature so that it reaches the entire sector. It is about creating the environment of trust necessary to address a change as important as this at a sector level.«.
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