COUNTRY® Financial deploys eSignLive e-signatures to help streamline electronic processing of life insurance applications in its financial representative channel.

electronic signature process management, today announced that COUNTRY Financial has integrated Silanis’ ApproveIt Web Server into its eApplication system to help streamline processing of life insurance applications. Captive financial representatives can now fully process new insurance applications electronically, including the capture of client signatures in documents, using the Web-based application. Adding electronic signature capabilities will enable COUNTRY to eliminate its paper dependency, along with all associated costs, inefficiencies and errors, and greatly improve the application experience for both its clients and financial representatives. “Streamlining the application process has been a priority for us for several years,” said Wade Harrison, COUNTRY senior vice president of life/health operations. “We realized that we needed to do more than just push out an e-application to financial representatives and clients. We needed electronic signatures to achieve the full efficiency and cost savings benefits of streamlined processing. “Silanis’ ApproveIt Web Server provided an integral part of the solution to process insurance applications electronically. The e-signature technology has improved our overall operating efficiency & further enhances our client services.” Prior to deploying e-signatures, financial representatives had to carry a stack of forms at all times, and then determine which ones to use and in what order depending on what product the client chose and legal jurisdiction, resulting in a  lengthy and cumbersome process. These problems are now eliminated. The Web-based system automates and controls the processing of applications in compliance with business, legal and regulatory requirements.  It generates all the correct documents and disclosures, pre-fills documents with the required client information and approved contract conditions, accurately presents documents and disclosure in a Web browser in the correct sequence. The system also prompts customers to accept disclosures, add their initials to documents and sign in all the correct places using an electronic signature capture pad. The entire process is executed on the agent’s laptop, which may be equipped with an Internet card, so that the completed application can be immediately returned to COUNTRY right from the financial representative’s office. By executing the process electronically from start to finish, the time to generate, present, complete and return insurance applications to COUNTRY will be significantly reduced, freeing up financial representatives to spend more time with clients and eliminating not-in-good order documents - the leading cause for prolonging the approval of client applications. “Deploying a Web-based solution was an important criteria for COUNTRY as it enables them to both automate the capture of client e-signatures and control the business process workflow to ensure compliance and in-good-order documents,” said Tommy Petrogiannis, president and co-founder of Silanis Technology. “We’re seeing more and more organizations moving away from desktop-based solutions in order to achieve the level of process automation and centralized control made possible by the Web.” Gartner Research reiterated the benefits of a Web-based solution in its September 28, 2009 research report entitled “The Demise of Desktop for U.S. Life Insurance Agents is Near”: “The benefits of replacing (or delivering via Citrix or other technologies) thick-client software with Web-delivered applications are well known to most life insurers. They have found it easier to keep software updated, to generate user activity reports, to monitor user behavior and to improve training and usability. Security can be simpler as well, when data is housed at the server-level instead of on individual devices in the field.” “The proliferation of high speed internet and Wi-Fi and mobile networks across North America has made Web-based, financial representative applications a viable option for insurers,” said Petrogiannis. “It also enables financial representatives to service clients with the speed and convenience of the Web directly from their offices.” About Silanis Silanis Technology is the leading provider of electronic signature process management solutions. The world’s largest insurance and financial services companies, major government agencies, integrators and service providers depend on Silanis to accelerate business transactions and reduce costs while improving compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. The company’s electronic signature platform, ApproveIt®, is an enterprise-class e-signature process management solution that transforms paper-based business transactions to all-electronic, Web-based processes for e-commerce and e-government. About COUNTRY Financial COUNTRY Financial serves about one million households and businesses throughout the United States.  Founded in 1925, COUNTRY has more than 2,000 financial representatives in 14 Midwestern and Western states who help families build a financially secure future, no matter where they’re starting from.  COUNTRY offers a full range of financial products and services from auto, home and life insurance to retirement planning services, college savings plans, investment management and annuities.