Geska Assurances & Conseils Inc., an advisory firm specializing in commercial insurance, is the inaugural recipient of the RCCAQ's brand-new Technology Award of Distinction. Presented by National Bank, this award pays tribute to brokerage firms' achievements and initiatives in the area of technology. Each year, the award recognizes a firm that has used or created a technological innovation that has had a significant impact on its own efficiency and client experience and, more broadly, on the brokerage sector as a whole.

Geska was honoured for implementing a new application designed to facilitate its automated billing and premium payment process. The jury members were particularly impressed by how user-friendly the process is, not just for clients but also for Geska's brokers, as well as by the efficiency gains the application has brought. Given its adaptability, the solution also has industry-wide deployment potential.

Éric Manseau, Directeur général du RCCAQ - Benoît Laroche, Vice-président délégué, services aux entreprises de Banque Nationale - Gérald Charest associés-propriétaires de Geska - Mathieu Brunet, Vice-président ventes et assurances spécialisées du cabinet MP2B Assurances et 1er Vice-président au CA du Regroupement - Jean Bilodeau, Directeur Général du cabinet BC Assur et président du comité technologie.

Background

For Gérald Charest and Sébastien Bouchard, Geska's two partners/owners, technology is not only an essential way to boost their firm's efficiency; it also enables their 14 employees to focus on value-added activities. Since their firm was founded in 2009, they have invested in technological innovation while remaining on the cutting edge, year after year.

Automating the billing and premium payment process, however, ranked high in importance for the two partners. In addition to being cumbersome, the process carried the risks of financial losses due to bad debts or delayed payments. “For any firm, collecting premiums is important," noted Gérald Charest. "But we were convinced that it shouldn't unduly tie up our brokers' time. We wanted our professionals to focus more on talking about insurance with our clients, rather than on whether they'd paid their premiums.”

The solution

Geska began to research the situation and the Simple PIN solution soon emerged. With Simple PIN, invoices can be issued electronically; upon receipt, the client simply chooses the type and number of payments. With just a few clicks, clients can make payments using a credit card or via a bank transfer.

The solution, however, raised one major issue: it wasn't integrated into their Epic management system. Bringing it into service meant they had to enter certain information twice, with all of the lost efficiency and the risks of error that implies.

Convinced of the solution's strong long-term potential, the partners decided to invest in the development of a programming interface linking Epic to Simple PIN and automating data entry in Simple PIN. In other words, all operations are still carried out in Epic, but when invoices are issued and clients make payment, the necessary information automatically flows between Epic and Simple PIN, so clients' files are kept up to date at all times in Epic.

“So far, we are very satisfied with the results we've obtained and we're already working on our next improvement," said Mr. Charest enthusiastically. "The improvement concerns the financing authorization process with Primaco, with the client's electronic signature.” 

The efficiency generated by these investments will also make it possible to deal with the growth that the Brossard-based firm is looking forward to. “Our plan includes the potential acquisition of insurance firms in both the personal and commercial lines. We're convinced that our technological advances will make it easier to integrate them,” added Mr. Charest.

Mr. Charest is even prouder of their innovation because it stands to benefit other firms. Over the next few weeks, the Simple PIN solution will be promoted to all brokerage firms using Epic. The solution may end up being adopted by other firms in Quebec, and potentially across Canada, thus helping to boost their efficiency as well. All thanks to the visionary approach of Geska's two partners!

“The discussions between firms regarding technological innovations must be stepped up," concluded Mr. Charest. "The future of the brokerage sector is on the line if we want to remain competitive vis-à-vis insurers with much bigger budgets than ours. I urge brokerage managers to invest the necessary resources in their firms' technological transition. Yes, it will take some time. But the investment will be easy to recoup thanks to potential efficiency gains.”

This is quite a start for the brand-new Technology Award of Distinction, which will be paying tribute to other equally promising innovations in the coming years. Congratulations to Gérald Charest and Sébastien Bouchard of Geska on their award!