First Mutual Life, a Zimbabwean life insurer, is revamping its IT system in partnership with SDT, a provider of financial software solutions to Africa's leading companies.
This, the insurer says, comes as it prepares for renewed growth as a result of seemingly improving economic conditions in Zimbabwe.
First Mutual Life will be implementing SDT's Exergy suite to support the growth of its business due to what SDT claims is its “scalability and robustness”.
The company says the roll-out of the new software is expected to be completed in the first half of this year. The software will replace an older life insurance solution from SDT and aims to provide more flexibility to deliver greater growth to First Mutual Life.
Joice Benza, Group IT executive at Afre Corporation, says there are strong signs of economic recovery appearing in Zimbabwe.
“Now is the time to replace our older life insurance suite with new technology, so after a thorough evaluation of various solutions, we decided that Exergy will be the most compatible solution aligned to our business goals,” says Benza.
According to the companies, Exergy is an events-driven, rules-based administration solution for life insurers that is built on an integrated, unified framework. SDT will be able to rapidly deploy the platform for First Mutual Life to cater for the life insurer's anticipated growth over the coming years.
The solution offers a low cost of ownership and can be quickly configured to meet First Mutual Life's needs, says Benza.
Once in place, SDT says, Exergy will give First Mutual Life the ability to quickly roll out new products and distribution channels to take advantage of emerging opportunities in its marketplace.
“This is especially important to First Mutual Life, which is looking to add new direct channels to its distribution strategy and to expand its range of products,” the company notes.
SDT adds that the solution may also help First Mutual Life to drive down the costs of administering policies across its customer base.
“In addition, Exergy will allow the insurer to administer different types of financial products off a single platform” it says.
“We have been impressed with the level of commitment that SDT and [its holding company] SilverBridge have shown to the Zimbabwean market, even during the toughest times. First Mutual Life has benefited from continued support from SDT throughout the years and the company has shown a keen understanding of our business needs,” says First Mutual Life.
“We are excited to extend our relationship with First Mutual Life, which is a key customer for us in Zimbabwe,” says Lee Kuyper, commercial executive at SDT Financial Software Solutions.
“Zimbabwe is a strategic territory for SDT and we look forward to working with First Mutual Life as it rolls out much needed financial services across the country.”
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