APIs - application programming interfaces - allow multiple software applications to talk to each other and exchange data in real-time. It is widely agreed that API development is necessary to advance digital experiences for insurance brokers and their customers – but until recently, there hasn’t been a standardised approach or strategy around how to achieve this.
In January 2022, the CSIO – which is Canada’s industry association of property and casualty (P&C) insurers, service providers, and over 38,000 brokers – has announced that the IBAC Data Exchange (DX) initiative will integrate into CSIO’s INNOTECH API roadmap. INNOTECH initiatives help brokers make more productive use of technology and improve the customer experience.
With IBAC representatives sitting as INNOTECH Advisory Committee members, and participating in INNOTECH Working Groups, it is hoped that the Canadian insurance industry will reach a single-track process for API development which is in the best interests of brokers, insurers, vendors, and consumers.
The INNOTECH Advisory Committee has identified several industry pains to prioritise finding solutions for, one of which was to standardise APIs, using JSON API standards, to address the gap that exists in real-time data exchange between brokers’ and insurers’ systems and provide a more fluid information delivery and an optimal user experience.
Like the brokers via IBAC, the major BMS vendors are also active participants in CSIO’s INNOTECH Working Groups, and they’re actively involved in developing API use-cases.
In 2021, the CSIO introduced JSON API standards for policy inquiry in personal auto and property insurance. The INNOTECH API Working Groups will focus next on developing the business requirements for other API use-cases, based on the 2022 API use-case roadmap priorities agreed on by the INNOTECH Advisory Committee. CSIO is expected to release this roadmap in the coming weeks.
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