Driving towards digitization

How Silvervine and payCloud.io are meeting the digital needs of the evolving insurance and benefits landscape.

Increased digitization within the insurance and insuretech industries have been at the forefront for years, however the COVID-19 pandemic has fuelled the need for companies to invest in digital initiatives to bolster their service offerings, operations and customer touchpoints.

Silvervine and payCloud.io have provided software solutions to property and casualty insurance administration for years. However, both companies have focused on responding to these new emerging challenges and shifts in the market, as the need to invest in increased digitization has increasingly sped up.

“Silvervine began pivoting towards a more application programming interface (API)-centric product, even before COVID-19 struck, that would allow us to work with other third-party software vendors to accommodate our customers’ demands to quickly deploy new technologies to meet the changing landscape,”

- Shurre Hampton, General Manager at Silvervine

Silvervine’s investments in increased digital capabilities has also grown beyond its core policy administration software capabilities. In response to new customer needs and feedback, the company has recently invested in the growth of new digital initiatives to complement its core offering, including Silvervine Sign.

Silvervine Sign is a new standalone e-signature solution that provides customers with the ability to manage signatures for a variety of documents digitally. Currently in its minimum-viable product (MVP) phase, it is incorporated into other Silvervine solutions, however the company is looking to develop integrations outside of the company, including with other Vencora businesses.

Silvervine Sign: Listening to the customer

The primary initiating factor for developing Silvervine Sign was listening to customer needs, said Jason Niederkorn, Director of Research & Development at Silvervine.

“Customer feedback suggested that the existing e-signature capabilities provided with our products were lacking in certain features compared to competitors. We quickly responded and got to work designing and building a standalone solution to rival the API capabilities of industry leaders,” Niederkorn added.

The demand for an e-signature product amplified with the onset of COVID-19, as remote working practices created a greater need for digital products for signing documents, as many team members lacked scanning systems at home.

Neiderkorn noted that developing and providing new digital solutions and initiatives for customers is crucial for success within the insurance market, as new offerings from established competitors and new entrants alike target more and more niche markets to grow their market share.

“Modularization, micro-services, and incorporation of third-party tools and providers are key to success, as the insurance industry increasingly grows its investment in digitization."

- Jason Niederkorn, Director of Research & Development at Silvervine

payCloud.io: Bridging technical gaps

As Silvervine focuses on developing new digital products, payCloud.io similarly has worked hard to bring their own impactful solution to the market, during a time of increased need and demand.

payCloud.io is a robust digital payment platform that provides services to allow companies to send and receive money to insureds, claimants and vendors both quickly and securely. The product provides credit card and automatic clearing house (ACH) processing, while absorbing much of the payment card industry compliance work from customers.

According to Timothy Cunningham, Director of Payments at payCloud.io, the need for new digital tools within the insurance industry has heavily increased as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As a result of lockdowns worldwide, insured parties could not make a payment in a physical office. We showed a 20% spike in the adoption of online and interactive voice response methods of payment,” Cunningham said.

While recent global events have accelerated the need for digitization, many insurance companies still face challenges, which further increases the need to adopt third-party tools to bridge technical gaps experienced.

“The biggest challenge in the insurance industry is to transform digitally, as many companies are still using legacy mainframe systems that limit their ability to fully digitize and receive real-time transactions and information.”

- Timothy Cunningham, Director of Payments at payCloud.io

Driving long-term growth

Digital transformation is one of Silvervine’s core focus items, and according to Hampton, it is critical for long-term success within the insuretech industry.

“To provide impactful digital tools, we listen to the voice of the customer, see where the industry is going, and respond accordingly. This is what enables Silvervine to redefine its uniqueness in the market,” she added.

This uniqueness has supported the company’s growth, and in positioning itself within the market. This year, Silvervine was named an “Established Player” in the 2021 Novarica Market Navigator Report for Property and Casualty Policy Administration Systems.

The increased focus on digitization by Silvervine and payCloud.io has also enabled new cross-selling opportunities with other Vencora businesses in order to further drive growth. The portfolio promotes collaboration, integrations and as well cross-selling opportunities to support Vencora customers, and drive growth amongst its businesses.

“Silvervine is very forward thinking when it comes to collaboration, and it is a mission of mine to extend Silvervine’s reach outside our walls and provide other Vencora businesses with our products and services, as well as leverage the benefits of their own shared services.”