South African ACORD XML Standard now available
STRIDE was formed as an industry initiative to enable binderholders and insurers to share data, in a standard format, through a secure electronic connection, to optimise data sharing, processing and reuse.
“The STRIDE solution is based on two pillars one being the technical solution and the other the SA ACORD XML Standard “ says Deon Olckers, CEO of STRIDE.
STRIDE has had incredible support from the industry through various working groups. The hard work of our industry participants is paying off and we are now proud to announce that, through the partnership with international data standard organisation ACORD, the first formal Southern African messaging standards have been finalised. The ACORD XML version 1.0.0 was completed and released on Thursday 25 October 2012 says Olckers.
The Southern Africa ACORD standard was agreed to by all South African ACORD participants and is the culmination of almost two years of work by the wider insurance industry. This now put South Africa on par with the rest of the insurance world and will be used by intermediaries and insurers to switch data seamlessly.
The initiative was started by the FIA and SAIA more than two years ago when both insurance intermediaries and insurers joined the world ACORD standards organisation starting the process of setting up the Southern Africa ACORD standard.
The ACORD transaction specification includes the following: Policy Synchronization, Claim Synchronization, Claim Bordereaux, Premium Bordereaux and Claim Registration and accommodates both personal lines and general commercial lines policies says Olckers.
These SA ACORD standards are available on 2 levels:
1. A Full *Member access and
2. A Non-*Member access
*These are ACORD members and not STRIDE
Both member and non-member downloads are available directly from ACORD on www.acord.org
Alan Stitzer (ACORD USA), and Manager of ACORD in Southern Africa, stated “ACORD is a member-driven organization, and without the commitment of SAIA, FIA, STRIDE and other ACORD members, this could not have come to fruition in the designated timeframes.”
“ACORD was founded on the principle of efficient data exchange between partners across the industry,” said ACORD President and CEO Gregory A. Maciag. “We’re pleased that Southern Africa is joining the growing list of regions around the globe who are finding value in ACORD Standards.”
What does this mean for the South African Short Term Insurance Industry?
The formal standard introduces standardisation across the industry, enabling insurers and binderholders to interact in a single, unique language. This will greatly reduce the cost and effort involved in moving data between binderholders and insurers and will enable communication with any organisation mapped to ACORD.
Jan de Klerk, chairman of the Southern Africa ACORD Steering Committee, said: “This is truly an historic event for the Southern African Short Term Insurance Industry as it is the first time that a data standard is adopted and supported by the majority of the industry. Every project that touches data will benefit from this standard as industry players are able to communicate in a common language and format.”
The STRIDE switch is ready to receive transactions in the Southern Africa ACORD standard and the planned rollout to participants is on track says Olckers.
STRIDE Chair Arnold van der Linde says that the Southern Africa ACORD standard availability is an industry milestone and will for the first time enable a standard way of sending and receiveing insurance policy data between intermediaries and insurers. It was also planned to be ready in time for the Binder Holder Regulations that stipulate that data have to be exchanged form 1 January 2013.
Van der Linde concludes by congratulating all participants on this achievement. Without the full support of our participants this would not have been possible.
