CLIEDIS News

Projet eData : mise à jour du 18 août 2010
Aug 20 2010

Depuis l’assemblée générale annuelle de CLIEDIS en juin dernier, les coprésidents du Bridge Group et membres du conseil d’administration de CLIEDIS, Scott Sinclair et Jamie McGeachin ont eu plusieurs rencontres avec des compagnies pour leur présenter le projet eData. Comme vous le savez, à l’assemblée générale de juin dernier, CLIEDIS a déposé une proposition de solution visant à rassembler tous les acteurs de l’industrie autour de l’adoption d’un processus électronique de collecte et d’échange d’information (projet eData)

L’objectif du projet eData est de poser les premiers jalons, de faire les premières démarches en vue de trouver une solution rendant possible la saisie électronique au point de vente et la transmission multidirectionnelle des données des nouvelles affaires.

Lors des discussions avec les assureurs et les distributeurs, les coprésidents du Bridge Group ont écouté attentivement leurs préoccupations concernant les ressources et le temps nécessaire à investir dans le projet pour rencontrer tous les défis de sécurité et de conformité soulevés par les partenaires de l’industrie. La plupart des assureurs et des distributeurs s’entendent pour dire qu’il existe une infrastructure capable de supporter la transmissions des données tout en relevant les défis de sécurité et de conformité : FundSERV.

Donnant suite à ces commentaires, les coprésidents du Bridge Group ont approché les dirigeants de FundSERV afin de valider leur intérêt à fournir un réseau capable de supporter le projet eData. Lors d’une rencontre conjointe des membres du Bridge Group et du conseil d’administration de CLIEDIS, le 10 août dernier, les dirigeants de FundSERV ont présenté leur point de vue sur le rôle de commutateur d’informations (Hub) que leur organisation pourrait jouer dans le projet eData. Les participants à la rencontre ont unanimement résolu de poursuivre les discussions avec FundSERV. Un comité directeur intérimaire du projet eData a alors été formé. Il se compose de cinq assureurs et quatre distributeurs :

Scott Sinclair (Transamerica)
Jamie McGeachin (HUB Financial)
Mike Lewis (Great-West )
Heather Clarke (Investors Group)
Susan Hunter (Sun Life )
Yves Gosselin (Force financière Excel )
Andy White (Manuvie)
Ernie Nichoporik (Credential Financial)
Normand Gervais (Industrielle Alliance)

Ce groupe va poursuivre les discussions avec FundSERV au cours des prochaines semaines afin de mieux cerner les enjeux reliés aux coûts, à la gouvernance et au calendrier d’un tel projet avec cette organisation. Au terme de ces discussions le dossier sera à nouveau soumis aux acteurs de l’industrie qui auront à décider de leurs engagements dans ce projet. À cet effet, Une proposition révisée sera soumise par le comité intérimaire en septembre.

Si vous avez des questions concernant ce projet passionnant et très important pour l’industrie, vous êtes invités à contacter un des coprésidents qui se fera un plaisir de vous donner plus de détail.

CLIEDIS est une association sans but lucratif dont le mandat est d’établir des normes et des conventions communes visant l’amélioration de l'efficacité de l'industrie de l'assurance vie au Canada au bénéfice des assureurs, distributeurs, associations et partenaires d'affaires. L’organisation poursuit sa missions grâce à des activités de formation, de développement et de représentation dans l’industrie.

Julie Parrott
Directrice exécutive, CLIEDIS

Au nom des coprésidents du projet eData :

Scott Sinclair
COO, Transamerica
416) 883-5005
scott.sinclair@aegoncanada.ca

Jamie McGeachin
VP, HUB Financial
905) 264-1634 x2031
jamie.mcgeachin@hubfinancial.com




eData Update - August 18, 2010
Aug 18 2010

Since the CLIEDIS annual general meeting in June, CLIEDIS executives and co-chairs of the Bridge Group, Scott Sinclair and Jamie McGeachin have been speaking with companies about the eData project. As you will remember, CLIEDIS presented a proposal to develop an industry solution to begin to address straight through processing at the AGM. The objective of the eData (New Business eData Collection and Transmission Standards) project is take the first steps with a solution for point-of-sale collection of the information related to the life insurance application and the multi-directional transmission of that data.

In discussions with both carriers and distributors, the Bridge Group co-chairs heard concerns about the resources and time required to create an infrastructure that addresses the security and compliance needs of all business partners. Most carriers and distributors believe there is an existing infrastructure that would be able to support the transmission of data and have the confidence of the industry, FundSERV.

Based on these comments, the Bridge Group co-chairs approached FundSERV to discuss their interest in providing the network for the eData project. At a joint meeting of the eData Bridge Group and CLIEDIS Executive on August 10, 2010, FundSERV presented their views on how they could serve as the transmission hub for the eData initiative. The group unanimously agreed to continue discussions with FundSERV. An interim eData steering committee was formed, made up of five carriers and four distributors:
Scott Sinclair (Transamerica Life)
Jamie McGeachin (HUB Financial)
Normand Gervais (Industrial Alliance)
Heather Clarke (Investors Group)
Susan Hunter (Sun Life of Canada)
Yves Gosselin (Force financière Excel)
Mike Lewis (Great-West Life)
Ernie Nichoporik (Credential Financial)
Andy White (Manulife Financial)

This group will continue discussions with FundSERV over the next several weeks and will delve further into costs, governance and timeline should the industry decide to move forward with FundSERV to address the issue of multidirectional transmission of data.

Further industry engagement and investigation will be required to find a solution to address the collection of that data at point-of-sale. A revised proposal will be presented to the industry in September.

If you have any questions or comments regarding this exciting and significant move forward in the eData initiative, please contact the eData co-chairs.
CLIEDIS is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to common standards and conventions that enhance the efficiency of the Canadian life insurance industry to the benefit of carriers, distributors, associations and business partners. The organization supports this mission through training, development and industry advocacy activities.

eData Co-Chairs:
Scott Sinclair
COO, Transamerica (416) 883-5005
scott.sinclair@aegoncanada.ca

Jamie McGeachin
VP, HUB Financial
(905) 264-1634 x2031
jamie.mcgeachin@hubfinancial.com




eData Project Makes the News in June
Jun 23 2010

CLIEDIS’ eData project has been making the news lately. Articles have appeared in industry publications talking about the eData project, including:

Click here to read the article in the Investment Executive.

Click here to read the article in Advisor.ca.

Click here to read the press release on Canadian Newswire.

The goal of the eData project is to choose and develop a Canadian life insurance industry framework that would provide for the electronic capture of information for individual risk based new business at point of sale and the multi directional transmission of that information. A proposal was made at CLIEDIS’ annual general meeting to the industry for getting financial support to find an industry wide solution that benefits all business stakeholders. CLIEDIS members involved in setting the scope and governance of this project, the Bridge Group, have begun the process of getting the commitment necessary to move the process forward. If you are interested in getting involved, go to the eData pages and complete the “Join the eData Project” form.



Bridge Group Update - April 27, 2010
Apr 27 2010

The idea for the eData (New Business eData Collection and Transmission Standards) project began late in 2009 as CLIEDIS executives were developing a long term roadmap for standardized life insurance data transmission. Beyond the good work that CLIEDIS was already doing, it was evident that there was a need for an integrated industry framework. The Canadian life insurance industry gathered at the Executive Summit in January 2010 to debate the benefits and potential costs of an industry solution.

The summit generated a great deal of interest in the Canadian life insurance industry. A Bridge Group, made up of industry representatives, was assembled. Their mandate was to prepare and present a proposal to industry participants for a process to choose a solution and outline the required commitment to participate. The Bridge Group, co-chaired by Scott Sinclair (Transamerica) and Jamie McGeachin (HUB Financial) and made up of influential industry leaders, has been working over the last few months to define the scope for the eData project and create a governance structure that ensures an open and transparent process. CLIEDIS will be playing a leadership role for the eData project as part of their 2010/2011 plan.

To ensure success, the Bridge Group has set a scope that is limited to new business processing. The goal is not to “boil the ocean” and by focusing the scope, the project can achieve the anticipated long term benefits of lower costs and increased productivity.

The Bridge Group is currently working on finalizing the governance structure and the process for how companies can get involved. An update is being presented to the industry at the annual CLIEDIS seminar, “Bridge to the Future” on June 8, 2010. Industry partners are invited to attend the seminar. If you are interested in attending the update, you can register on the CLIEDIS website, www.cliedis.ca.

CLIEDIS, the Canadian Life Insurance Standards Association, has been coordinating Canadian interests in the development of public standards for the Canadian life insurance industry since 1995. CLIEDIS members consist of carriers, distributors, associations and their business partners. The organization supports its mission to enhance the efficiency of the Canadian life insurance industry with the use of common standards through training, development and industry advocacy activities. CLIEDIS is not-for-profit and funded solely by its members. For more information about CLIEDIS, please contact Julie Parrott, CLIEDIS’ Executive Director, at (416) 830-3161.




CITS Client Update Working Group
Apr 13 2010

A draft implementation guide for Client Updates is now available for CLIEDIS member review. The purpose of this implementation guide is to update address, phone, e-mail and preferred language information about the client.

CLIEDIS members are being invited to a meeting on May 10, 2010 to review the guide and provide input on their company's needs related to client updates. CLIEDIS members should sign in to the CLIEDIS website to get details on the meeting and to view the guide.



CITS Update
Mar 26 2010

CLIEDIS actively supports the development of CITS (Canadian Insurance Transaction Standardization) implementation guides for the life insurance industry. These implementation guides provide a framework for carriers and distributors to communicate electronically. If you haven’t been directly involved with the development of these guides, this update will let you know what guides are available and answer some of the questions you may have about the CITS feeds.

What CITS Implementation Guides Are Available NOW?

CITS Pending Case Status
This was the first implementation guide developed in 2006. The purpose of CITS pending case feeds was to communicate changes in the underwriting status to distributors. Lessons were learned from the experiences of this working group and used during the development of subsequent guides.

CITS Inforce
There are two versions of the Inforce implementation guide, with the most recent version including additional functionality that was left out of the first guide. When work first began on the Inforce guide, carriers and distributors decided on a very tight scope. Phase 2 of the project brought in additional functionality, including loans, dividends, investment components for Universal Life products, Segregated Fund support for products not transmitted through FundSERV and Annuities not transmitted through Cannex. During the first phase of the inforce project, it was agreed that product information could be sent separately and a CITS Product Description implementation guide was developed to support the inforce feed. Version 1 of the guide was completed in 2008, version 2 in late 2009.

CITS Commission Data
This guide includes information for commission processing. Data feeds using the CITS commission data guidelines are sent from carriers to distributors and include commissions being paid to distributors or distributor’s agents, not including commissions being paid via FundSERV. The feed is simpler than other feeds that are being produced based on the ACORD model because extraneous information is not included. This guide was completed in early 2009.

CITS Broker Update
This guide is different from other guides that CLIEDIS has developed so far. The reason is that the flow of information is from the distributor to the carrier instead of from the carrier to distributor. The guide sends basic contact information about the broker to the carrier.

CITS Electronic Document
The data feed for electronic documents provides with companies notification that they have received an electronic document. These documents may be on a website, email or other electronic file. The purpose of the data feed is to notify the receiver that a document is available. These feeds can be transmitted to and from any of the business partners in the business process. Some examples of how this data feed would be used: PDF commission statements stored on a carrier website, scanned forms sent via e-mail, updated marketing materials.

CITS Advisor Contracting
The information found on the CLHIA G8 form(SCREENING AGENTS FOR SUITABILITY: STANDARD FORM FOR CONTRACT OR SPONSORSHIP) can be transmitted electronically using this data feed. Supplemental carrier questions have also been mapped to the ACORD standard.


Which CITS Guides are Coming Up Next?

CITS Client Addition / Update
This guide is in the development stages and will be ready for CLIEDIS member review in April 2010. This guide will provide guidelines on updating all client basic information, whether it be the owner, the insured, or other client related to an insurance contract.

CITS Application
CLIEDIS will be collecting CLIEDIS member companies’ Application Part 1. The information will be mapped to the ACORD standard and collated, with the goal of coming up with the common industry application questions. This guide would support any work being done by the group working on the eData project. If you haven’t already submitted your Part1 Application form to Julie Parrott for mapping to the ACORD data standard, you should do so as soon as possible.


I Have a Question:

What does it mean to have a data feed “CITS Approved”?
There have been some misconceptions about what CITS Approval means. In order for a company to be CITS Approved, they must submit a file of approximately 5 – 10 cases. The file is approved if:
• the file is in the correct format
• the required data elements are included in the file
• the format of the data is correct
• the data in the test file makes sense (basic visual review)
What isn’t tested is whether the information is correct or whether the feeds are being generated at the appropriate times. What does that mean? We cannot test whether the person entered the name correctly, entered the appropriate blood test or whether the feed is generated under the correct circumstance. These are issues related to the business process and not the “data”.

What if I have issues with a CITS feed?
You are receiving a CITS feed and have issues with the quality of the data. Have you contacted the sender of the file? If you can’t get your issue resolved, CLIEDIS has a process for getting problems resolved. If you are a CLIEDIS member, you can go to the CLIEDIS website to submit your issue on the QA issue submission page. We will review the issue, communicate with the business partners to determine the specifics of the problem and present options for resolution. As we develop a database of resolved problems, you will be able to look at the database to see if anyone else has had the same problem and find a solution.

Why does it take so long to develop some CITS guides?
There are a number of reasons that some guides take longer than others to be completed. Because we are getting input from the entire industry, it takes time to collect information. Work is being done by volunteers from your company and as a result, CITS work sometimes gets a lower priority work than the regular work of the day. But the biggest roadblock comes when we need to update the ACORD data model to include our Canadian requirements. ACORD, www.acord.org, only updates the model twice a year. As an example, if we identify changes in June, they will not be voted on, approved and added to the data model until January the following year. The guides that are easiest to develop have a relatively small amount of information in them (such as the Broker Update) and require little negotiation.

If there are so many CITS guides, why are more data feeds based on these guidelines not being produced?
As companies are learning, it is much easier to come up with the guidelines than it is to modify their company’s systems to send and/or consume the feeds. There are a number of companies producing Pending Case feeds and are working on other feeds.

Where can I get information about the CITS implementation guides?
The CLIEDIS website, www.cliedis.ca has general information about the CITS implementation guides and a list of companies who have had their data feeds “CITS Approved”. CLIEDIS members can get access to the implementation guides, custom CITS views of the ACORD standard, information on the CITS approval process and working group documentation when they sign onto the CLIEDIS website or log into CAIR, www.cliediscair.ca . The implementation guides are soley for the use of CLIEDIS members.

What if I need training prior to starting a CITS development project?
CLIEDIS has training related to the ACORD XML for Life data model once or twice a year. If you are interested in training, we have a course scheduled for May 5 & 6, 2010. We are currently developing training specific to the CITS implementation guides, to be ready in the second quarter 2010. This training will be done virtually, in 1.5 hours modules and will be free to CLIEDIS members. The training will assume some knowledge of the ACORD data model.

Why should my company be a CLIEDIS member?
If you want to have a say in the development of CITS implementation guides or have a problem with a CITS feed, you need to be a member to have your voice heard. If you company is not already a member, you can find out more about CLIEDIS and the cost of joining at the CLIEDIS website.




Advisor.ca Article says Insurance Clients prefer e-delivery
Mar 12 2010

A recent article discussed a study, commissioned by NewRiver, that found policyholders preferred the use of electronic documents for prospectus and compliance related materials. Click here to read the entire article.



CLIEDIS Hosts Successful Summit
Jan 27 2010

“It’s about TIME!” says the Canadian Life Insurance industry.

Click here to read the Newsire Press Release.

CLIEDIS hosted a full day summit meeting attended by 130 industry delegates from all corners of the industry. Attending were 33 executives from insurance companies, 53 distributors and 44 industry suppliers. Attendees discussed the benefits of finally getting rid of paper and moving towards comprehensive electronic processes.

The key is “straight through processing”. Today most information on the paper application is manually entered into many different computer systems. With straight through processing, when the advisor completes the application with the client electronically, the answers are checked and clarified. The data on the application is then shared securely and immediately with those that are a necessary part of the process which includes the advisor, the advisor’s distribution company, the insurance company, as well as to any of the industry suppliers that arrange medical tests with the client.

Byren Innes, Senior Vice President & Director with NewLink Group Inc. a consultancy firm to the life insurance industry gave the results of a survey of insurance advisors . “Advisors see this change as resulting in a more satisfied customer. For the advisor, they see a significant decrease in administrative workload resulting in increased resources available for client communication, and servicing as well as greater professionalism."

Scott Sinclair, Chief Operating Officer of Transamerica Life explained how it translates to greater professionalism. "All this paper forms part of the legal agreement of an insurance policy. With long forms it is easy to miss a checkbox or not provide enough of an explanation about a visit to a doctor. The advisor then needs to go back to the client for updates to the information and can feel awfully foolish for what seems in the client eyes as something trivial. Not to mention, all that paper, and the courier and transportation involved, do not create a very green solution."

The Canadian insurance industry is admittedly late for this type of technology. There is now a consensus that the life insurance industry can do something similar to what the Canadian investment fund industry did. Consider this, says Tim Fitzpatrick, President, Virtgroup, “All this paper has to be sent by mail and courier and shuffled on employee desks. In the late 1980s it took 28 days for a customer to open a new mutual fund account as it was all then driven by paper Today it takes at most 3 business days to settle as the purchase is recorded and checked electronically by all parties using standards and a shared network. It is 2010 and yet on average it takes 36 days to process and issue an average insurance policy. Aside from the time required for medical testing, for some insurance applications, this timeline could be cut to as little as 24 hours.”

Byren Innes concluded “Advisors are uniform in saying that this is the single most-important change that can happen and should have been implemented years ago!”

For more information on the summit, including the results of the Advisor survey, meeting notes and the Bridge Group mandate, click on "The Executive Summit is a Success" at the top of this webpage




Advisors Asked to Provide Input for Summit
Dec 22 2009

CLIEDIS asked advisors to complete a short survey to provide input for the Executive Summit: Building the Faster Future ... Drop Costs, Drive Sales. The survey asked about potential benefits to advisors and their clients on processing insurance application on a fully electronic basis.

The results of the survey will be available on January 28, 2010.



CLIEDIS Moves to Address Electronic Data Feed Quality Assurance Issues
Nov 24 2009

As we move to an industry based on standardized electronic data feeds, we are now seeing and hearing about data quality and processing issues. We now have actual feeds being used in the real world based on guidelines agreed to by distributors, carriers and vendors (aka CITS). The fact that we now these much anticipated feeds is leading to fresh challenges. Most notably, the challenges that different vendors are having trying to process the feeds into distributors systems and the problems that are faced when the feeds contain unexpected data scenarios.

CLIEDIS is moving to address these data quality and processing issues. We are establishing a process for communicating data quality issues and a forum for CLIEDIS member carriers, vendors and distributors to voice their concerns. By providing such a forum, we will endeavour to resolve the issues and, as a result, increase satisfaction for all stakeholders in this new electronic environment.

The CLIEDIS website has been updated to allow you to submit your issues. Issues will be communicated via the website once an initial investigation has been done. We are hoping that as issues are addressed and publicized, you will know whether a problem you are having has already been addressed and how it was resolved. The process will evolve as we learn the most appropriate was to address issues.



CLIEDIS Resumes CITS Agent Contracting Data Feed Initiative
Oct 07 2009

After a break to work on higher priority CITS (Canadian Insurance Transaction Standardization) initiatives, CLIEDIS is resuming work on the CITS Agent Contracting data feed. This initiative will develop implementation guidelines for transmitting the information from the CLHIA G8 (Screening Agents for Suitability: Standard Form for Contract or Sponsorship) in a standardized electronic format.

A meeting is being held at the end of October to review the draft Implementation Guide and review the non-standard questions that carriers ask to ensure that information can also be transmitted using the ACORD XML for Life data standard.

CLIEDIS members are invited to attend this meeting. Details of the meeting are available on the CLIEDIS website, just sign in and go to CITS Working Groups.



CITS Electronic Document Transfer Initiative
Oct 07 2009

CLIEDIS members worked during the summer to develop guidelines for transmitting documents electronically. Draft implementation guidelines are now available to CLIEDIS members.

CLIEDIS has requested changed to the ACORD data standard for this initiative and these changes will be voted on in November 2009. When these changes are approved, CLIEDIS members will be able to use the implementation guidelines to generate standardized electronic document data feeds.



CLIEDIS Attracts Attention from the Press
May 12 2009

A number of news articles were written from the media who attended CLIEDIS' Annual seminar. With record attendance and a lively audience engaged in the messages being presented, the media took notice.Philip Porado from Advisor.ca wrote about the message that distributors were sending to carriers about the need for more electronic data feeds:
Insurance Distributors Push for Electronic Data Feeds
Gavin Adamson from Investment Executive focused his article about the annual seminar on the frustrations experienced by disitributors with carriers for their slow implementation of standardized electronic data feeds. Slow Adoption of Electronic Data Transfer leaves Insurance Distributors Frustrated
Insurance.Canada provided their perspective on the message at the annual seminar with the focus on moving forward. CLIEDIS AGM and Seminar Focuses on Moving Ahead



CLIEDIS Annual Seminar is a Success
May 06 2009

CLIEDIS' annual seminar, held on April 30 and May 1, 2009 was a great success. With many of the top distributors in attendance, their message that they are more than ready to accept electronic data feeds from carriers was heard loud and clear. John Hamilton, President, Financial Horizons Group, spoke of the frustrations that distributors experience in a non-data feed world and required carriers in attendance to commit to going back to their organizations to spread the message about carriers' readiness to accept standardized electronic data feeds. Byren Innes presented the results of CLIEDIS' latest survey. The results were generally positive, with standardized data feeds becoming more accepted as a means of transmitting informaiton. Copies of both John Hamilton's and Byren Innes' presentations are available on the CLIEDIS website. CLick on "About CLIEDIS" and go to Seminar. For CLIEDIS members, details of the survey results and attendee lists are available by signing in and clicking on Past Seminars.



CITS Broker Update Initiative
Mar 04 2009

CLIEDIS members have worked together to develop a CITS implementation guide to transmit broker information from distributors to carriers has comp. Members can download the implementation guide and sample files by signing into the CLIEDIS website and going to the CITS Working Group page.

For more information about CITS, go to the CITS Overview page.



CLIEDIS Welcomes New Members
Feb 09 2009

CLIEDIS is pleased to announce the following recent new CLIEDIS members in 2010: Global Pacific Financial Services, StoneRiver, CompuOffice Software and PlanetSoft. Since the beginning of 2010, the following companies have joined: La Capitale, Desjardins Financial Security, Canada Protection Plan, Force financiere Excel and MajescoMastek.



CITS Inforce Phase 2 Begins
Nov 26 2008

CLIEDIS has begun work on Phase 2 of the Inforce Phase 2. Members attended an all day meeting in Toronto on November 20, 2008 to discuss scope issues. Work will continue into the new year to refine the scope and begin work on defining what specific information will be included in the Inforce2 feed. For more information, contact Julie Parrott (jparrott@cliedis.ca).



CITS Commission Data Implementation Guide Ready
Oct 09 2008

The first draft of the CITS Commission Data Implementation Guide is now available to CLIEDIS members for review. Training for this guide was held in November. Discussion continue on outstanding issues.



SPECIAL OFFER FOR LIFE AND HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES
Oct 08 2008

CLIEDIS is offering a limited time offer for Life and Health insurance companies. Join by December 31, 2008 for only $1,500 and enjoy membership privileges until April 30, 2009.

If you were considering joining CLIEDIS, this is the perfect opportunity to find out about the benefits of membership: participating in CITS (Canadian Insurance Transaction Standardiziation) initiatives, low cost training, networking and seminars.

To join, simply fill in the membership application by December 23, 2008 to receive this special offer. An invoice will be e-mailed to you.



CLIEDIS Makes a Presence at the MGA Symposium
May 28 2008

CLIEDIS made a presence at the MGA Symposium in Collingwood, ON on May 27-29, 2008.

CLIEDIS sponsored a breakfast and providing information to attendees on CLIEDIS and the CITS (Canadian Insurance Transaction Standardization) initiatives.

Felinore Surat, CLIEDIS co-chair, spent time speaking with MGAs to get their input on CLIEDIS, CITS and electronic data transfers.



Best Practices Guide for Data Security
Apr 29 2008

A set of best practices has been developed for CLIEDIS members for data transmission security and password management. The guide is available on CAIR and on this website on the Standards Review Committee page.