DRIVING A 43% INCREASE IN AUTOPAY TO RETAIN POLICYHOLDERS AND REDUCE COSTS TO SERVE

The Opportunity

Founded in 1946, Alfa® has grown to become one of the premier insurance providers in the U.S. The insurer serves more than 1 million customers in 14 states in the Southeast U.S. through its expansive coverage portfolio that includes life, property and automobile policies.

To optimize its policyholder experience and retain more customers, Alfa embarked on an ambitious transformation project that would streamline payments and offer policyholders more convenient ways to pay their premiums. The end-to-end billing and payment platform upgrade focused on three major aims:

• Improve the functionality and payment options offered to customers

• Encourage Alfa policyholders to engage with more advanced, automated features (AutoPay, electronic billing, text-to-pay) to increase customer retention and cross-sell opportunities

• Increase the reliability and resilience of an essential system expected to withstand inevitable customer communication spikes during catastrophic weather events

The Solution

Alfa selected the best-in-class Paymentus electronic billing presentment and payment solution to deliver on its business goals and maintain the flexibility needed to meet changing customer preferences. The partnership featured a cross-functional team working in close collaboration throughout the multi-phased project.

In total, the insurer implemented a comprehensive, holistic billing and payment solution highlighted by a host of new payment methods, channels and capabilities including:

• AutoPay and eBilling to speed and ensure effortless on-time payments while drastically reducing the need for paper-based billing and payments

• Interactive voice response (IVR) and Secure Service® IVR to give policyholders a secure, seamless way to self serve over the phone with less reliance on customer support agents

• EMV POS devices at 330+ service locations, effectively expanding inclusive payment options and improving the customer in-person bill payment experience

• Mobile text-to-pay that combines with Secure Service® SMS to give policyholders added bill pay convenience by offering secure text-based payments in a matter of clicks

The Results

Alfa’s billing and payment transformation leveraging Paymentus’ single-stack, SAAS-based platform has expanded the insurer’s ability to serve and retain current and new customers, all while reducing costs to serve.

Alfa has seen a dramatic year-over-year increase in the adoption of payment channels associated with customer retention.

The rapid growth of both AutoPay and paperless billing has produced benefits that go beyond improved policyholder retention and satisfaction. The increase in AutoPay adoption has both driven more on-time payments and helped policyholders avoid potential costly lapses in coverage.

Alfa has also increased savings through the deployment of self-service payment options such as IVR and increased enrollment in paperless billing. By cutting the cost of mailing and processing paper bills and checks – with a cost estimate of up to $3.00 per bill and an estimated annual savings of $1M+ annually – Alfa has gained the ability to further invest in resources aimed at improving the policyholder experience.