DELIVERY STRATEGIES BRIEFS

Republic Mortgage Insurance Co. (Winston-Salem) has made a variety of mortgage insurance products available on the B2B mortgage Web site eMagic, a subsidiary of MGIC Investment Corp's (Milwaukee) Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. Initially, only mortgage loans using delegated and reduced-documentation mortgage insurance programs can be submitted via eMagic. Other products will be added throughout the year. The eMagic pipeline is meant to complement RMIC's E-L-S (Electronic Loan Submission), the firm's online link to its products and services that allows customers to submit loans for RMIC's delegated and reduced documentation programs.

Chattanooga-based UnumProvident's Internet Billing service has registered its 1,000th customer, less than six months after its introduction. Part of the income-protection specialist carrier's iServices program, Internet Billing allows employers to receive real-time access to their bills online, and enables customers to access current and historical data easily, according to UnumProvident. Since the service launched, 65 percent of eligible small- to mid-sized group customers have signed up.

The International Association of Webmasters and Designers (IAWMD) has awarded its 2002 Golden Web Award for commitment to the pursuit of Web site excellence to www.MedMutual.com, the Web site of Medical Mutual (Cleveland). The association judges sites on the criteria of design, content and originality. MedMutual.com averages more than 83,000 visitor sessions a month, and the company expects that number to increase 30 percent, as more customers take advantage of the updated site. The improved Web site brings enhanced navigation tools, such as tab menus at the top of the home page that take users directly to where they want to go with the click of a mouse. Individualized pages accessed through www.MedMutual.com cater to the needs of members, brokers, group officials and providers.

Online insurance broker Quotesmith.com has launched a new Web-based travel insurance price comparison and purchasing service for domestic and international travel, with an initial lineup of 28 plans. The most popular offerings, according to Quotesmith.com, are packages that include trip cancellation, lost baggage, medical, dental, emergency evacuation, 24-hour traveler assistance, baggage delay, travel delay and accidental death coverages.

"Clicks-and-mortar" agency player InsureZone (Fort Worth) formed a strategic relationship with National City Insurance Group, Inc.(NCIG), a subsidiary of Cleveland-based National City Corp. InsureZone will provide NCIG access to insurance products designed for small businesses.

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