ClearPay and KixPay team-up to help brokers migrate to electronic collections and payments

Toronto, ON,  March 19, 2020/InsPress/  – ClearPay, the leader in automating insurance payments and reconciliations, and KixPay, the leader in economical and compliant credit card payment services for the insurance industry, have teamed up to provide some tips and are offering an online meeting on how to securely and efficiently migrate to electronic funds movement and away from cash, cheque and in-person payments from policyholders and disbursements to carriers.

There are several options for brokerages that are relatively quick to implement to collect payments from policyholders, including:

• Auto-deposit for Interac e-transfer. Many financial institutions have this feature available, which enables a brokerage to register an email address with their bank.  Brokerages only need to provide an email address to their policyholders and there is no security question and answer to manage.  This service is extremely economical and can be setup in minutes.

• Online bill pay. This service requires registering with banks you wish policyholders to be able to pay from.  This can take some time to implement but is easy for policy holders to use.

• Credit card merchant account. There are a variety of providers in the marketplace that can implement a credit card collection service. Some are able to do so in a matter of days and at next to no cost for the setup or ongoing collections of payments via a payment portal.

• For those Brokers needing an immediate merchant  account, PayPal may be a consideration. The account setup is quite simple, one of the  major differences  to a traditional merchant account is settlement to the brokers  trust account is not automatic and requires a manual request to transfer funds from Paypal to your bank.  Plus it is more expensive.

Normally insurance brokerages, especially those with a retail presence, receive a steady influx of customers in their office primarily to make a payment.  This goes for agency bill and direct bill policies alike.  With an increasing number of insurance brokerages adopting limited access policies to their office, giving their customer base choice in alternative payment methods fits well with the brokers value proposition and keeps important payments unimpeded.

“There are a variety options in the marketplace for insurance brokerages to quickly enable electronic payments for their policyholders during this restricted person to person interaction period,” says Geoff Howes, CEO of KixPay.  “Given payments are being made every day to insurance brokerages, the ability to quickly enable electronic payment options is critical to keep the business of insurance in motion.  We will do whatever it takes to help in an expedited manner.”

For insurance carriers who are adopting work at home policies, there can be a challenge of processing incoming cheques from insurance brokerages, as well as continuing to process claims that need to be paid out, often times by cheque. Any physical handling of cheques typically requires in office staff, thereby negating the ability to maximize work-at-home policies.  The most effective way to protect employees and ensure the flow of funds from brokers and to insureds is to move to electronic collections and disbursements.

• For claims payments, utilizing of Interac e-transfers and specifically bulk e-transfers offer effective and economical means of disbursements for a number of situations.
• For collections from brokerages, electronic payment options eliminate the need for physical handling of cheques. Services like online bill pay at banks are effective but take time to setup.  Accepting electronic funds transfers for both agency bill and direct bill advances is an efficient way to migrate away from cheques.

“As both P&C insurance brokerages and insurance companies take the appropriate steps to stem the spread of the COVID-19 virus through limiting policy holder in office interactions and employee stay at home policies, the need for a quick migration to electronic funds movement is there,’ says John Knotek, Chief Executive Officer of ClearPay.  “It is no surprise to see the insurance industry responding in the most responsible and effective manner possible.”

“Both ClearPay and KixPay are ready to assist insurance brokerages and carriers with their questions about electronic payment options,” continues Howes, “We want to do our small part and provide payments advice to the P&C Insurance industry.  Our thoughts are with those impacted by the virus and we thank all the service providers that continue to work tirelessly through this crisis.”

On Friday, March 20^th, KixPay and ClearPay personnel will be hosting an online meeting to highlight options for the insurance industry and to field any questions from brokerages or carriers that are looking at electronic payment options.

Details for the online meeting are as follows:

Date:  Friday March 20^th
Time:  2PM to 3PM EST
Meeting details:  https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/402195845

About KixPay

KixPay provides the insurance industry with compliant and economical credit card and other electronic payment options, created by professionals with years of experience in the insurance and payments industries. For more information visit us at kixpay.com

KixPay Contact
Geoff Howes – Chief Executive Officer
604-940-1456 ext 101
geoff@kixpay.com

About ClearPay

ClearPay is an independent Canadian company created by professionals with years of experience in the insurance and banking industries to automate payments and account reconciliation for the insurance industry. For more information connect with ClearPay on Twitter or Linkedin or visit clearpaycanada.com.

ClearPay Contact
John Knotek – Chief Executive Officer
647-494-3884
johnknotek@clearpaycanada.com