ACORD, the Association for Co-operative Operations Research and Development, is an international non-profit organisation responsible for data standards and standard forms within the insurance industry. The body is known in South Africa for its work with the long term side over the past 12 years, as well as working with STRIDE on the short term side.

The award garnered by MIP recognises organisations that have implemented one or more ACORD standard XML messages, with the Gold certification being the highest. MIP won for its mobile app for party enquiry messages, and is the only company in sub-Saharan Africa to have achieved this award.

“MIP was certified in transaction processing and met extremely stringent validation rules in order to achieve this award,” says Alan Stitzer, Director, Global Development, at ACORD. “It’s good for the South African Insurance industry to see someone really ACORD compliant. Achieving this level of excellence requires a lot of hard work and attention to detail, and proves that MIP is committed to the standard. It’s essentially a commitment to a more efficient and effective way to do business. 

Being a member-driven organisation, the successful establishment of the ACORD standards is dependent on the support of companies like MIP. Richard Firth, CEO of MIP Holdings, says that joining the ACORD community was a logical step for a company whose customers are many of the region’s biggest insurers.

“The new world of computing, globalisation, ‘Cloud’ and collaboration has fundamentally changed the way we design and develop systems and implement the ability to securely share information. This has increased the importance and need for us as a technology company to develop, train and maintain a strict integration standard. This is the new world!”

With increasingly stringent regulations by the Financial Services Board, and cooperation from the Financial Intermediaries Association and the South African Insurance Association locally, and similar moves across the rest of the continent, partners within the insurance industry have to ensure they are meeting global standards. “ACORD has the framework to help make that simple. We took the decision to not only actively implement ACORD standards within our business, but to ensure that we are the leaders within our space, and this award proves that we have been successful,” Firth says.

Stitzer adds that ACORD aims to make the insurance industry more effective, and that MIP has proved the value of the standards throughout the supply chain – from software vendors to brokers and insurers. “Data is data. But the effective, standardised use of data to improve customer service is where the future lies.”

Firth explains that in addition to improved efficiencies, the ACORD standards make it easier for companies like MIP who are expanding into different geographical regions. “Having an ACORD base makes it easy to move into different markets because the standards are used across the world. We have already seen the benefits of reaching the highest levels of compliance, and are proud to have been able to achieve the stringent qualification criteria to have enabled us to win the ACORD Life and Annuity Early Adopter Gold Award,” he concludes.