Fujitsu launches BPO offering for the insurance market

Fujitsu teams with Vertex Financial Services and Munich Reinsurance to provide Web-based straight through processing for life protection market

Fujitsu Australia recently announced that it is launching a web-based straight through processing (STP) service for the Australia and New Zealand life protection market. Fujitsu will leverage technology from UK-based Vertex Financial Services. We will host and manage the service, based on Vertex’s award-winning, full lifecycle STP platform, partnering with Munich Reinsurance and utilising Munich Reinsurance’s underwriting rules. The service can cover all facets of protection policies from quote, through online underwriting to claim. By automating the application process using the Fujitsu service, insurers can not only reduce the cost of processing a protection case, they can also reduce the time it takes to process an application down to 48 hours in most cases.

Rod Vawdrey, Chief Executive Officer, Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand said, “The expenses for insurers associated with providing protection continues to escalate while the industry is plagued with a shortage of underwriters and the need to get new business on their books faster. Fujitsu’s Business Process Outsourcing (PO) offering provides the Australian and New Zealand insurance industry with a mechanism to improve efficiency in the back office and to cut costs.”

Fujitsu will provide a hosted STP service for insurers, which will be supported by outsourced underwriting and teleunderwriting from Otter Risk Solutions, Vertex’s third party underwriting and claims risk management subsidiary. The service also enables insurance companies to ‘re-badge’ their protection products and open new channels of distribution such as banks and credit unions.

“By adopting Vertex’s award winning technology platform and Otter’s proven and highly successful teleunderwriting focused approach, Fujitsu is transforming the way financial services are bought and sold in Australia and New Zealand,” said Matthew Pilcher, Business Manager, Munich Reinsurance.

“Vertex’s STP platform uses a combination of business rules and underwriting rules to process applications. While straight through processing has been around for many years, the reality is that few insurance companies are currently able to process online business ‘straight through’ from quotation to back office,” said Andy Hunt, Vertex Financial Services Managing Director.

“Vertex has successfully implemented its STP platform at the Royal Liver insurance company in the UK where by utilising tele-underwriting techniques, and removing automatic medical limits, 87% of cases have been processed without the need for a medical report. Not only does this mean that the vast majority of applications are processed more quickly, it also takes out one of the major cost factors in processing an application, the medical report,” said Andy Hunt.

Rod Vawdrey said, “There has already been a lot of local interest in the service and we have a healthy pipeline of prospective clients. The alliance with Vertex allows us to move ahead of the competition in this market and establish a really solid lead position in STP across the protection sector. Whilst Vertex was keen to work with us for our reputation in the Australian and New Zealand market, we equally gain from their BPO experience.”

For further information about this new BPO offering from Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand, please email:

Adrian Hayes

E-mail:adrian.hayes@au.fujitsu.com