For Anthem, Inc., which provides health insurance to tens of millions of Americans, processing premium payments efficiently is a crucial profitability driver. Several years ago, however, payments were costing the company too much and causing frustration for consumers. A broad “voice of the customer” initiative conducted by the marketing team identified premium payments as one of the top 10 areas in which Anthem could improve.

“We had operated in a check-and-paper environment for many years,” explains Rick Noble, staff vice president of treasury operations for Anthem. “We rolled out new CSR [customer service representative], IVR [interactive voice response], and Web pay systems through a vendor, and 3 percent of our customers moved to this channel to pay their premiums. Across our millions of customers, that was a lot of individuals, so it was a step in the right direction. But when we looked at industry statistics, we saw that we were falling behind.” In fact, in a survey of customers who were leaving an Anthem-affiliated health plan, 31 percent cited payments as a motivation for switching insurers.

One issue was that consumers who chose to use the Web pay option had to log into the Anthem site to determine how much they owed and when payment was due, but then had to log on separately—with different credentials—to a third-party vendor’s site to actually make the payment. Another challenge was that consumers who wanted to sign up for recurring payments had to request a paper form to fill out and mail or fax in. “We didn’t make that easy for people to sign up for,” Noble says.

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to Treasury & Risk, part of your ALM digital membership.

Your access to unlimited Treasury & Risk content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Critical Treasury & Risk information including in-depth analysis of treasury and finance best practices, case studies with corporate innovators, informative newsletters, educational webcasts and videos, and resources from industry leaders.
  • Exclusive discounts on ALM and Treasury & Risk events.
  • Access to other award-winning ALM websites including PropertyCasualty360.com and Law.com.

Already have an account?


NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2023 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Meg Waters

Meg Waters is the editor in chief of Treasury & Risk. She is the former editor in chief of BPM Magazine and the former managing editor of Business Finance.

More from this author

Dig Deeper

 

Treasury & Risk

Join Treasury & Risk

Don’t miss crucial treasury and finance news along with in-depth analysis and insights you need to make informed treasury decisions. Join Treasury & Risk now!

  • Free unlimited access to Treasury & Risk including case studies with corporate innovators, informative newsletters, educational webcasts, and resources from industry leaders.
  • Exclusive discounts on ALM and Treasury & Risk events.
  • Access to other award-winning ALM publications including PropertyCasualty360.com and Law.com.

Already have an account? Sign In Now
Join Treasury & Risk

Copyright © 2023 ALM Global, LLC. All Rights Reserved.