SWIFT Insurance Service Live Between Aon Benfield, Willis and SwissRe
The first transactions on the new SWIFT insurance service have now been exchanged between Rüschlikon Initiative members Aon Benfield, Willis and SwissRe. This new platform for electronic exchange of reinsurance accounting and settlement transactions will be in pilot mode for 12 months, to allow the pilot firms to implement the necessary changes and to validate the service. The service will then be available to any firm who wants faster, more standardised settlement of insurance and reinsurance transactions.
The pilot firms are the reinsurance giants Aon Benfield, Munich Re, Scor, Swiss Re and Willis. All participants have also committed to abide by a rulebook, which sets new and challenging targets for timeliness and accuracy of accounting and settlement processes across the community. The service is based on the messaging standards and market practice guides produced by ACORD, the international insurance standards body.
Peter Arbenz, chairman of the Rüschlikon Industry panel and project lead on behalf of Swiss Re, said: “This is an important milestone for the whole insurance community. We have come a long way in 15 months to bring this service online, and we are now ready to start harvesting its real, compelling benefits. I would encourage any reinsurer, broker or insurance carrier to join us as soon as possible, so that we can extend automation across the whole industry.”