Delivery Briefs

Fiserv (Brookfield, WI) business unit FREEDOM (Cedar Rapids, IA) received the IBM ServerProven validation for its FREEDOM Reinsurance system, which the firm says allows users to reduce cost-of-ownership by decreasing installation and set-up time. The validation signifies that the system has attained compatibility with IBM servers, such as the IBM eServer xSeries and Netfinity.

Employer interest in e-health initiatives is expected to surge over the next few years as companies look to the Internet and Web-based technology to help control rising costs, make employers better healthcare consumers and facilitate the annual benefits enrollment season currently underway, according to Cathy Tripp, a senior consultant at Watson Wyatt Worldwide (Washington, DC) who specializes in e-healthcare benefit programs. A recent Watson Wyatt survey of 200 large employers found three out of four are likely or somewhat likely to support employees' health care education using Web-based tools. "Five years from now we expect a vast majority of large employers will be using Web-based tools in virtually all aspects of their health benefit programs," Tripp says.

Participating Allstate agencies in New York will now provide information to consumers about opening Allstate bank accounts, according to Allstate Financial Group (Northbrook, IL). The bank's products and services include FDIC-insured CDs, insured money market and savings accounts and checking accounts, as well as home mortgage services. In addition to the agent channel, consumers can access the products through allstatebank.com, the bank's telephone service center, ATMs throughout the US or the US mail.

Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information ... View Full Bio