LONDON – 18 December 2007 – Initiate Systems, Inc., a leading provider of master data management solutions for creating complete, real-time views of data about people, places and things, today announced the signing of a contract with esure, an online insurance company, to provide core identity resolution technology across esure’s diverse information sources. Initiate Consumer™ (formerly known as Initiate Identity Hub®) will be used to facilitate the creation of a single ‘master’ view of the customer across esure’s multiple product offerings and applications, and will act as a platform for many future projects.
“Recently we’ve seen an explosion in business volumes especially related to the aggregators and price comparison sites such as Moneysupermarket.com and GoCompare.com,” states Mark Foulsham, Head of Information Technology at esure. “With a significant proportion of our business now coming from this channel, Initiate® software will help enable us to efficiently manage the increase in activity, reduce any duplicated or fragmented customer records and help us to better know our customers, track their individual needs and facilitate cross-sell opportunities.”
“Harnessing the power of customer data drives success in innovative companies. We are delighted that esure has chosen Initiate software to provide comprehensive single views of customer and claim party records,” adds David Ashworth, Initiate Systems UK General Manager, Commercial and Government. “Initiate Consumer puts customers at the centre of business processes and can help esure achieve rapid and more accurate identification to improve customer experience in sales, distribution, service and support.”
Foulsham outlined that detailed customer data is captured and held in three main applications: The Insurance Application (TIA) - esure’s call centre operation; IBIS – esure’s website which captures online sales; and its marketing database.
“We have over 15 million current records generated from multiple sources and we needed a solution that could de-duplicate the data and ensure it stayed clean without the need to do ongoing data cleansing,” continues Foulsham. “With Initiate Consumer we can achieve real-time search and response times that highlight if a record already exists, which will be invaluable for our telephone sales staff. We will have an enhanced search capability to find the right customer at the right time and an improved single view of all our dealings with an individual to help improve customer satisfaction and assist with cross-sell opportunities.”
“After an evaluation of 20 potential suppliers, Initiate came out as the clear winner,” concludes Foulsham. “esure’s goal is to offer a superior service and in Initiate we have found a company as innovative and forward thinking as ourselves and we look forward to working with them.”
About esure
esure was launched in 2001 and is a joint venture between Peter Wood and HBOS. The company offers car, home, pet and travel insurance over the internet and by phone. esure also offers car insurance cover through Halifax Car Insurance, Sainsbury’s Car Insurance and, most recently, the Sheila’s Wheels brands. Recent marketing campaigns such as Sheilas’ Wheels and Michael Winner’s – ‘Calm down Dear it’s a only commercial’ have generated customer interest in esure’s range of products including Halifax (HBOS) Car Insurance, Sainsbury’s Car Insurance, plus esure Home, Travel and Pet Insurance. More information can be found at: www.esure.com