Card-based payment methods have all but replaced cash and check transactions throughout the U.S. A Lansdale insurance veteran is banking on cards becoming the norm in the insurance industry, as well.
Bob Mendte, who worked in operations at CIGNA for 25 years and has run his own consulting firm for large insurers the last several years, is pitching his InsurCard to large carriers throughout the region.
Mendte already has seven carriers on board, mostly for catastrophic relief–like First Insurance Company of Hawaii–and one workers compensation provider. InsurCard claims to improve cash control, enhance fraud protection and boost customer service. It also can reduce claim payment costs up to 85 percent. Considering the average payout for workers compensation (wage replacement) is nine payments, that savings can add up.
“It solves a lot of problems for insurance companies and recipients, especially low-income recipients,” says Mendte, president of InsurCard. “The movement toward debit cards is astounding.”
The InsurCard Prepaid Card is issued by partner Bancorp, the third-largest issuer of commercial debit cards in the country, and allows for on-the-spot reimbursement for victims of catastrophes or those who can’t afford to wait for their workers compensation checks to clear.
InsurCard has recently devoted a lot of resources developing its workers compensation business because there aren’t as many competitors as in the property insurance market. To comply with workers compensation regulations that vary state-to-state, InsurCard conducted a nationwide legal study and gained approval from more than 40 states. As a result, it has been allowed to bid as sole providers in some states because it’s the only company that can prove legal compliance throughout the U.S.
“We’re getting a lot of play from that,” says Mendte. “We’d hope this becomes a standard in the industry. We don’t expect to be here ourselves, but it would be nice to have a share of the market.”
Source: Bob Mendte, InsurCard
Writer: Joe Petrucci