Insurer Standard Life has replaced legacy systems with
up-to-date software applications as part of its compliance with the
latest Financial Services Authority regulations.
The project will allow Standard Life to comply with the
Treating Customers Fairly regulation which requires insurers to
offer customers the best policy available at the time of the
deal.
Jan Roxburgh, head of distribution finance at standard Life,
said the insurer embarked on a project to make information on all
sales easily accessible to managers three years ago.
"First of all we spent two years building an Oracle
datawarehouse because we needed a starting point of accurate
data."
Standard Life linked the datawarehouse to
software from Cognos, which retrieves information and presents
it to managers.
This year the firm linked the datawarehouse to
software from Callidus to meet the TCF requirements by making
the sales process more visible.
The software replaces a system installed in the 1970s, known as
QU, which was used to calculate how much commission to pay to
salespeople.
"It was a good system in the 1970s but most of the experts in
using the system have moved on and it was difficult to upgrade,"
said Roxburgh. "The IT staff were not confident they could support
the system."
The FSA said that the regulator has given ample advice on how
firms can comply with TCF and will now seek evidence that they are
following this guidance.
"From December they will have to prove they comply with TCF,"
she said.