Cracking the Code: Simplifying Digital Transactions in Life & Annuity

It’s no secret that advancing digital experiences for agents, policyholders, and home office employees hinges on the life and annuity industry’s ability to digitize transactions. This critical challenge was the focus of a recent Sureify webinar, “Why are the simplest digital transactions so hard in Life & Annuity?” The event brought together industry experts Jake Littman of Corporate Insight, Brian Weber of Kuvare, and Sureify’s Sherri Isaacson to discuss the current state of user experience (UX) and offer insights on how the industry can overcome transaction-specific challenges to accelerate modernization.

The State of UX in Life & Annuity

Life and annuity, much like other financial services, still struggles to deliver modern digital experiences. One of the biggest contributors is difficulty in efficiently and scalably digitizing transactions—a crucial step for industry advancement. According to Jake Littman, Senior Analyst at Corporate Insight, this challenge stems from two main issues: “So many carriers still host their policy management on legacy systems. Many are outdated and are built to support a more rudimentary user experience with only the most basic capabilities,” meaning these systems are not equipped for modern digital interactions. Additionally, he notes, “Life insurance and annuities are complicated products a lot of the time and many key decisions should be made under the advice of an advisor or an agent,” indicating that improving user experiences is often bigger than fully digitizing transactions.

During his presentation, Littman highlighted several UX gaps he has observed across the industry, demonstrating the impact of these issues:

• Beneficiary Management: Few carriers proactively notify beneficiaries, a critical oversight in digital experience.
• Withdrawals & Adjustments: Many of these processes remain paper-based or are not supported online due to concerns over fraud or tax implications.
• Investment Tools: Life and annuity significantly trails retirement platforms in offering personalized recommendations or allocation guidance.
• AI Implementation: While AI is largely used internally, customer-facing AI, such as intelligent chatbots, are still in the early stages of development.

Easing the Creation of Digital Transactions to Accelerate Modernization

Historically, digitizing transactions has been a time-intensive and complex process. Traditional approaches often lead to rigid transactions vulnerable to changes in carriers’ evolving tech stacks. Even simple transactions require support from multiple systems, and orchestrating transactions across them can be a tedious process. Prioritizing which transactions to digitize first is crucial, and panelists agreed that resolving “not-in-good-order” (NIGO) issues offers the most significant ROI due to substantial revenue upside in faster resolution. There is also growing demand from customers to have self-service capabilities. Digitizing simple transactions not only empowers policyholders but also frees up agents and customer service teams for more complex, growth-centric tasks that nurture policyholder relationships.

Agents & Financial Professionals Are a UX Necessity

Treating transactions uniformly does a disservice to user experiences. Complex actions like allocations or withdrawals demand agent guidance seamlessly integrated into the digital experience. Beyond streamlining processes, digitizing transactions must also enhance transparency for all parties. As Brian Weber, AVP of Marketing Communications at Kuvare, emphasizes, “It comes down to the power of communication… to make sure that everyone’s engaged… between the policyholder, distributor, and the carrier.” This means proactively notifying financial professionals of any policyholder-initiated changes, such as contact information or beneficiary updates, to ensure all key stakeholders remain informed and “in the loop.”

Cracking the code to simplify digital transactions demands a multi-faceted approach. Sureify’s Journey Engine provides the necessary infrastructure for scalable transactions. Backed by CoreCONNECT, our data and workflow engine, once core systems are fully integrated, transactions can be built in a matter of weeks. This enables implementers to not only accelerate modernization but also to deliver digital experiences that effectively support agent and policyholder interactions. Interested in further insights shared? Check out the on-demand webinar.