Q: How is DTCC bringing efficiency to clients and the industry by automating the BDofRC process?
In the past, distributors had to manually send authorization forms and manage multiple workflows when submitting a broker/dealer of record change for each carrier partner in the annuities and life marketplaces. The full request-and-response process was facilitated by distributors and carriers sending forms back and forth via mail or fax – which took days and was especially prone to manual error. DTCC took aim at this last year with a much-anticipated enhancement to I&RS’ Access platform.
The addition of Broker/Dealer of Record (BDofRC) Changes in the IFT Access or in the In-Force Web (IFW) Services for Financial and Non-Financial Transactions automates the process, reducing what normally took days to a matter of minutes. This level and speed of information exchange now gives the insurance industry a centralized place to simplify and automate their Broker/Dealer changes while bringing greater order to the entire annuity processing workflow – all of which saves money, improves efficiency and reduces risk.
We have other enhancements planned this year to include additional non-financial transactions to the Access platform – such as address, email and phone number changes and beneficiary updates – and we are working closely with clients to prioritize how and when we bring these new features and functionality to market. Our goal is to help the industry achieve greater standardization and across every touchpoint of the annuity processing workflow.