Trustmark Mutual Holding Co.
07/07/2022 | News release | Distributed by Public on 07/07/2022 08:28
Simplify payments, maximize relationships with ACH
Carriers love to talk about their benefits. It's no surprise, that's what we're here to sell. Benefits are what our customers pay for. But, while the product may be what customers buy upfront, what keeps them as customers is service.
Service is every bit as important, as products a carrier offers. Customers may buy insurance coverage, but if they hold onto their policy, they live with their carrier's service for years.
It is the promise the carrier makes to their policyholders and the service that accompanies that promise that can determine a customer's satisfaction. So, what's the most common service interaction with policyholders? Premium payments. Claims are more important, but ideally those are few and far between for policyholders. In terms of sheer volume, premium payments are the most common interaction. And, if employers are handling deductions, it's also often the most common interaction between employers and carriers.
It's not easy to get right, either. A survey of brokers found that their number one administration pain point with carriers was billing.1
With that in mind, what's the solution? Obviously, there's no silver bullet here to erase all billing challenges, but there is a solution that can help: ACH deductions. By deducting payments directly from a policyholder's bank account you can eliminate headaches and add value for brokers, employers and policyholders.
Trustmark has made our ACH payment capabilities available to employers and employees meaning there are several exciting life can get easier for clients:
No different from payroll deduction to an employee
Many of us are used to a "set it and forget" payment model for many of the services we use today (Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc.). With ACH, you're using a process that's familiar to the employee as their deductions are made automatically from their bank account.
Employees don't have to rely on payroll deductions to have their coverage remain inforce. There is no need to worry about missed deductions due to a leave of absence or a termination of employment. There's also no need for the employer to have to manage these deductions and premium recovery processes.
Ease of portability
One of the great things about voluntary products, particularly individual products is portability. ACH payment makes portability easy and seamless for policyholders. In some ways, it enhances protection for many employees who don't realize they can port their policy - they won't lose it when changing jobs. The payments can just continue seamlessly when they move to another position or retire.
The policyholder is more likely to retain their coverage, which is often in their best interest and good for all involved.
Simple for employers
Administering benefits through payroll deduction requires coordination between the carrier and employer. As we noted earlier, it's a huge concern for brokers as well. With ACH, employers are removed of the burden since payments are drafted from the employee's bank account. What does that mean? No more file feeds, no more need to initiate first deductions, make up missed premium payments, etc. - it all runs without any burden on employers, HR and payroll departments.
Cost efficient too
Many employers spend money on payroll vendors and payroll slots in their systems to offer products. Using ACH removes the need for a payroll slot dedicated to a carrier's product. It's also possible that an employer may be paying a TPA to do ACH payments already. If done through a carrier like Trustmark, you may find that it's a more cost-friendly solution.
While Trustmark is tremendously proud of our innovative product suite, we're equally as proud of our service model. We offer exceptional billing services through payroll deduction and now with the addition of ACH deductions. This is just another step forward for Trustmark and for our customers. More than that, it highlights the global trend we see in all industries towards convenience and ease of doing business.
As a carrier, we want policyholders and employees to buy or offer our products because we believe they are, truly, world class. But it's also critical to maintain and even enhance a best-in-class service reputation. That comes from building the tools to make our client's lives more secure and easier to manage - true win-wins for our broker and employer partners as well as our policyholders.
1Brokers and Voluntary Benefits - The Competition Intensifies. Eastbridge Consulting Group. 2018.
Service is every bit as important, as products a carrier offers. Customers may buy insurance coverage, but if they hold onto their policy, they live with their carrier's service for years.
It is the promise the carrier makes to their policyholders and the service that accompanies that promise that can determine a customer's satisfaction. So, what's the most common service interaction with policyholders? Premium payments. Claims are more important, but ideally those are few and far between for policyholders. In terms of sheer volume, premium payments are the most common interaction. And, if employers are handling deductions, it's also often the most common interaction between employers and carriers.
It's not easy to get right, either. A survey of brokers found that their number one administration pain point with carriers was billing.1
With that in mind, what's the solution? Obviously, there's no silver bullet here to erase all billing challenges, but there is a solution that can help: ACH deductions. By deducting payments directly from a policyholder's bank account you can eliminate headaches and add value for brokers, employers and policyholders.
Trustmark has made our ACH payment capabilities available to employers and employees meaning there are several exciting life can get easier for clients:
No different from payroll deduction to an employee
Many of us are used to a "set it and forget" payment model for many of the services we use today (Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc.). With ACH, you're using a process that's familiar to the employee as their deductions are made automatically from their bank account.
Employees don't have to rely on payroll deductions to have their coverage remain inforce. There is no need to worry about missed deductions due to a leave of absence or a termination of employment. There's also no need for the employer to have to manage these deductions and premium recovery processes.
Ease of portability
One of the great things about voluntary products, particularly individual products is portability. ACH payment makes portability easy and seamless for policyholders. In some ways, it enhances protection for many employees who don't realize they can port their policy - they won't lose it when changing jobs. The payments can just continue seamlessly when they move to another position or retire.
The policyholder is more likely to retain their coverage, which is often in their best interest and good for all involved.
Simple for employers
Administering benefits through payroll deduction requires coordination between the carrier and employer. As we noted earlier, it's a huge concern for brokers as well. With ACH, employers are removed of the burden since payments are drafted from the employee's bank account. What does that mean? No more file feeds, no more need to initiate first deductions, make up missed premium payments, etc. - it all runs without any burden on employers, HR and payroll departments.
Cost efficient too
Many employers spend money on payroll vendors and payroll slots in their systems to offer products. Using ACH removes the need for a payroll slot dedicated to a carrier's product. It's also possible that an employer may be paying a TPA to do ACH payments already. If done through a carrier like Trustmark, you may find that it's a more cost-friendly solution.
While Trustmark is tremendously proud of our innovative product suite, we're equally as proud of our service model. We offer exceptional billing services through payroll deduction and now with the addition of ACH deductions. This is just another step forward for Trustmark and for our customers. More than that, it highlights the global trend we see in all industries towards convenience and ease of doing business.
As a carrier, we want policyholders and employees to buy or offer our products because we believe they are, truly, world class. But it's also critical to maintain and even enhance a best-in-class service reputation. That comes from building the tools to make our client's lives more secure and easier to manage - true win-wins for our broker and employer partners as well as our policyholders.
1Brokers and Voluntary Benefits - The Competition Intensifies. Eastbridge Consulting Group. 2018.