Ebix and Silanis Partner to Further Straight-Through Processing for Insurance Agents and Carriers

ATLANTA and REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., Oct. 25, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ebix, Inc. EBIX, a leading international supplier of On-Demand software and E-commerce services to the insurance and financial industries, today announced a partnership with Silanis, the leader in enterprise electronic signature solutions with the largest e-signature deployments. Silanis will now become the preferred e-signature solution within Ebix's on-demand offerings used by hundreds of thousands of brokers and insurance companies worldwide, representing in excess of $100 billion in insurance premiums annually. This partnership reflects the increased demand globally from insurance carriers and agents to improve the customer experience across all sales channels with 100 percent straight-through processing.

The agreement is transactional, whereby EbixExchange will first integrate Silanis' e-signature solution in the new business application process within the EbixExchange CRM, as well as expand the offering to EbixExchange's AnnuityNet, WinFlex, LifeSpeed and AMP platforms. EbixExchange's CRM subscribers will be able to complete annuity and insurance new business immediately without the delay of obtaining a paper-based signature from the policy holder. Electronically signing the application will make it possible to close business in one web session or in-person visit, improving the compliance of applications by dramatically reducing not-in-good-order rates while also eliminating costly manual procedures. EbixExchange will initially roll out Silanis e-signatures to its client base including broker/dealers, banks, clearing firms, captive agents and BGA communities, with plans to expand the offering through other divisions, including P&C, international, health and BPO.

Gaining widespread adoption of e-signatures and e-policy delivery by agents has historically been a challenge in the insurance industry, despite clear recognition of the benefits and a desire to use the technology – in fact, applicant and agent e-signatures were rated the top technology initiatives for agencies, according to a 2011 Life Brokerage Technology Committee survey. Lack of adoption stems from reluctance on the part of agents to use a different way of submitting new business applications electronically for each carrier they sell. For carriers, their concern lies in underwriting business that may or may not have been originated in compliance with regulations and corporate policy.

"The Ebix-Silanis partnership provides the answer with integrated, robust e-signatures as part of vertical applications they are already using, whether for new business or customer servicing applications," said Dan Delity SVP & Global Sales Head of Ebix. "The flexibility and performance of the Silanis e-signature platform allows Ebix to scale across all our offerings with a legal, secure solution, while the transaction management capabilities provide immediate visibility into the online e-signature transactions for both the carrier and the agent."

E-signatures are now considered a foundational technology, essential for automating customer-facing transactions. Customers are demanding the convenience of completing an insurance transaction electronically through their channel of choice and rewarding carriers and agents that give them the choice. And with the majority of e-signature transactions launching from mobile devices by year 2020 as per Forrester, carriers are focused on leveraging this new sales channel specifically for their agents.

"We believe this partnership is key to gaining widespread adoption of e-signatures within complex distribution channels like the insurance industry," said Silanis CEO and co-founder Tommy Petrogiannis. "When electronic signatures and e-policy delivery are offered as a tightly integrated solution as they are now thanks to Silanis and Ebix, both carriers and their producers win."

Silanis CEO Tommy Petrogiannis added, "With the largest e-signature deployments already by carriers, this partnership shows the value of Silanis' e-signature solution for the insurance industry, not only in enabling straight-through processing via Ebix's many services but also in delivering the ultimate in compliance and electronic evidence."

About Silanis

Silanis is the most widely used e-signature solution in the world, responsible for processing more than 600 million documents annually. Founded in 1992, Silanis' solutions e-Sign Enterprise and e-SignLive enable thousands of organizations, including four of the top North American banks, eight of the top 15 insurance companies and the entire US Army to accelerate business transactions, improve customer experience and reduce costs while improving compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. Silanis provides the most flexible deployment options with its on-premise, cloud and SaaS e-signature solutions, eliminating manual, paper-based processing and enabling e-commerce and e-government transactions to be electronically executed from start to finish.

About EbixExchange

EbixExchange is the division of Ebix, Inc. that focuses on straight through processing for the insurance industry, encompassing CRM & agency management, research, illustration, transaction processing, underwriting, distribution, servicing of a policy and compliance automation for the insurance and financial sectors. EbixExchange currently supports a broad range of insurance agencies, brokerage & clearing firms, banks, wealth management firms and a variety of other operations centers across multiple channels like annuities, life, health & property & casualty insurance sectors.. EbixExchange's parent company, Ebix, Inc., is a publicly-held corporation EBIX. For more information, please visit http://www.ebixexchange.com.

About Ebix

Ebix, Inc. is a leading international supplier of software and e-commerce solutions to the insurance industry. Ebix provides a series of application software products for the insurance industry ranging from carrier systems, agency systems and exchanges to custom software development for all entities involved in the insurance and financial services industries.

Ebix strives to work collaboratively with clients to develop innovative technology strategies and solutions that address specific business challenges. Ebix combines the newest technologies with its capabilities in consulting, systems design and integration, IT and business process outsourcing, applications software, and Web and application hosting to meet the individual needs of organizations.

With bases in Singapore, Australia, the US, New Zealand, India, Brazil, UK and Canada, Ebix employs more than 2000 insurance and technology professionals who provide products, support and consultancy to hundreds of thousands of users across six continents. Ebix's focus on quality has enabled it be awarded Level 5 status of the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute's Capability Maturity Model (CMM). Ebix has also earned ISO 9001:2000 certification for both its development and call center units in India. For more information, visit http://www.ebix.com.

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