US Premium Finance has joined other insurance premium finance companies as a part of ePayPolicy’s Finance Connect feature, making their premium financing solutions for insurance companies easier to access for the industry.
AFCO Direct Partners to Make Financing Easier for Insurance Industry
AFCO has joined other insurance premium finance companies as a part of ePayPolicy’s Finance Connect feature, making their premium financing solutions for insurance companies easier to access for the industry.
Finance Connect: “Buy Now, Pay Later” for Insurance
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, e-commerce customers have grown increasingly familiar with “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) options at checkout – the modern equivalent of installment plans. Companies like Affirm and Klarna have become globally recognized brands, as a surge in online shopping coupled with low interest rates helped the top 5 lenders in the space grow 970% from 2019 to 2021 (source – CFPB).
For the insurance industry, the use of outside financing to help amortize large annual premium payments is nothing new. Most carriers require upfront payment of the premium, especially with more expensive policies. Most commonly referred to as “premium financing,” Premium Finance Companies (“PFCs”) have been working with agencies and brokers for decades to create payment flexibility and additional revenue opportunities.
“We believe that the ability to finance premiums not only helps the insured with more attainable coverage and payment terms, but it’s also a core function of our business model,” said Dani Harris, Chief Administrative Officer at Treaty Oak.
“Our insureds always finance,” Harris added. “Since we’ve been in business, we’ve only had 2 (customers) pay up front.”
Recent inflation-driven economic changes have further underscored the value PFCs bring to their insurance payments ecosystem. Many consumers and businesses have noticed their monthly insurance payments going up. Average auto insurance premiums rose nearly 14% in the last year, according to a Bankrate study (source), and sharp increases have been felt industry-wide.
ePayPolicy believes the collision of these three trends – inflation-driven premium increases, customer preference for payment flexibility, and ongoing utilization of premium finance – will drive rapid adoption of their newest product, Finance Connect.
“We’re so fortunate to have many insurance customers that regularly tell us what would make their life easier,” said CEO Mark Engels. “The relationship between PFCs and their agency partners is an essential one, and we’re building something that makes it even easier for them to work together.”
Finance Connect enables insurance companies to offer premium financing options – with their existing premium finance partners – at the point of online payment for their insured customers.
“The financing offer and terms are presented right at the time of payment,” said CTO Nish Modi. “We’ll then leverage our existing integrations to streamline recurring payments and payment reminders. Finance Connect is going to help insureds pay faster and bind policies sooner.”
Traditional BNPL options have been estimated to increase conversion rates by 20-30%, as well as increasing cart value by 30-50% (source). But unlike new BNPL entrants, many PFCs have long standing existing relationships with their partners, and need no justification for the value they bring.
“Central to the creation of Finance Connect was our intent to preserve existing partnerships with PFCs,” added Engels. “We didn’t want to try and take business from them, or create a marketplace. We want to help both sides work together faster, for the convenience of the insured.”
“We’ve signed up several PFCs on the platform, with more on the way,” added Engels.
The emphasis on removing manual chokepoints in insurance payments has been central to ePayPolicy’s product roadmap. Finance Connect is the latest integrated product for an industry in need of greater digital efficiency and automated back-office operations. ePayPolicy recently introduced CheckMate, an automated check acceptance and reconciliation solution that utilizes machine learning, and announced the Payables Connect tools for automating the reconciliation, creation, and payment of market payables.
“Insurance companies of all sizes are dealing with some tough market conditions, looking for ways they can add to the bottom line,” said Engels. “We’re going to give them more control of their revenue stream, from receivables to payables, with as little disruption for them and their payers as possible.”
Built In Honors ePayPolicy in 2024 Best Places To Work Awards
Built In today announced that ePayPolicy was honored in its 2024 Best Places To Work Awards. ePayPolicy earned a place on 3 award lists in Austin – Best Startups to Work For (U.S), Best Startups to Work For (Austin), and Best Places to Work (Austin). This was ePayPolicy’s 3rd consecutive year on the list.
The annual awards program includes companies of all sizes, from startups to those in the enterprise, and honors both remote-first employers as well as companies in large tech markets across the U.S.
“Awards like Built In mean so much because you can’t just apply for them. You earn them,” said CEO Mark Engels. “We can feel it inside the company – we’re building something special, and I’m proud of our entire organization for their contribution in making ePay an incredible place to work.”
Built In determines the winners of Best Places to Work based on an algorithm, using company data about compensation and benefits. To reflect the benefits candidates are searching for more frequently on Built In, the program also weighs criteria like remote and flexible work opportunities, programs for DEI and other people-first cultural offerings.
ePayPolicy recently won awards for Best CEO and Best Culture from workplace survey company Comparably, as well as two consecutive Inc. 5000 awards.
“I’d like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to the 2024 Best Places to Work winners,” says Maria Christopoulos Katris. “I am truly inspired by these companies that have risen to the challenge of fostering a positive work environment, maintaining a strong brand, and ensuring employee satisfaction. The future is filled with promise and we are so excited to see what lies ahead.”
About Built In’ Best Places to Work
Built In’s annual Best Places to Work program honors companies with the best total rewards packages across the U.S. and in the following tech hubs: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC. Best Places to Work is distinct because its algorithm selects tech companies that build their offerings specifically around what tech professionals value in a workplace.
About ePayPolicy ePayPolicy offers easier payment tools, built just for insurance. ePayPolicy’s products bring insurance payments up to speed for agencies, carriers, MGAs and PFCs, with secure online payment pages, automated check processing, payables reconciliation and more. 7,500+ insurance companies trust ePayPolicy and their expert, live support team to handle their payments every day. Learn more: ePayPolicy.com
ePayPolicy Wins Two Company Culture Comparably Awards in 2023
AUSTIN, TX – ePayPolicy, the insurance industry’s most popular payments platform, announced today two awards that highlight company culture and leadership. The recognition comes from the workplace site Comparably, where ePayPolicy was selected from tens of thousands of companies, winning awards for Best Company Culture and Best CEO.
Comparably Awards are derived from sentiment ratings anonymously provided by employees about their workplaces in multiple categories on Comparably.com during a 12-month period. Winners are then determined based on 20 core culture metrics, ranging from work-life balance and environment to compensation and career growth.
ePayPolicy joins other respected companies winning Comparably awards such as Netflix, HubSpot and Adobe.
“We’re honored to be selected for these awards based on direct and anonymous feedback from our team members,” said Allyson Hoffman, Director, People Operations. “Comparably helps us get a sense of what’s working and what we can improve, and we’re thankful to make this list for another year.”
“I’m really proud of the work environment we’ve created and the company that we’re building together,” added CEO Mark Engels.
ePayPolicy was previously honored this year as an Inc. 5000 award winner, as well as one of BuiltIn Austin’s Best Places to Work.
Headquartered in Austin, TX, ePayPolicy is currently hiring for a number of positions. Learn more at epaypolicy.com/careers.
About ePayPolicyBuilt by insurance professionals for the insurance industry, ePayPolicy is the fastest, easiest and most secure way to move money for insurance. ePayPolicy’s products bring insurance payments up to speed for agencies, carriers, MGAs and PFCs, with secure online payment pages and automated check processing, with CheckMate. 6,000+ insurance companies trust ePayPolicy to handle their payments every day. Learn more: ePayPolicy.com
CheckMate Changes Checks for BSR
Microplastics. The smell in the break room when someone microwaves salmon. Paper checks.
Some things linger, despite our hopes otherwise.
And so, we adapt.
The inefficiencies of paper check payments drove ePayPolicy’s founders to create their core platform for online payments 8 years ago. They saw how most other industries took payments, and knew they could help insurance organizations like theirs make the leap.
And now, agencies, MGAs, PFCs and carriers get paid faster. Problem, meet solution – right?
The Persistence and Pain of Checks
“There are still people out there who feel that a paper check is more secure,” says Vickie Harmon of Bailey Special Risk. “That’s their preconceived notion. And then there are others who tell us their owners don’t allow them to pay online.”
The combination of digital payment preferences in the 18-34 age bracket and the surge in online payments driven by the pandemic has proven to be lasting. B2C consumer preferences for fast, flexible and secure payments have bled into B2B transactions. And paper checks are anything but fast, flexible and secure.
“Just getting checks to the office is a pain,” said Harmon. “Someone could send a check from 2-3 hours up the road, and a week later, it might get to us. Then someone has to open it, scan it, and reconcile it back to (Vertafore’s) AIM.”
A 2022 McKinsey study affirmed what most already know – 9 out of 10 Americans utilize digital payments. Online payments are faster, more secure, and commonplace. But compared to most industries, the insurance space has an above average amount of holdouts still using checks.
“We look at the amount on the check. If there’s a comma, we might take it to the bank today,” joked Harmon. “If not, maybe we’ll wait until the end of the week and see if another one comes in.”
“We know that our customers love the ease of online payments,” said ePayPolicy CTO Nish Modi. “But they’re still getting these checks – in some cases, despite their best efforts. We started thinking, could we make check payments as easy as their online payments?”
More than a lockbox
Some large insurance organizations utilize generic bank lockbox solutions to offload the administration associated with check handling at the offices, especially with multi-location companies. But not all lockboxes are created equal, and many come with high and fluctuating fee schedules, long-term contracts and insufficient integration with insurance management and accounting software.
“We could have had a lockbox at any point, but then it would just be a matter of them emailing us the information,” said Harmon. “We’d still have to spend the time to manually enter all of that.”
Feedback like this led to the development of CheckMate – the first integrated, secure lockbox solution built just for the insurance industry. When it came to rethinking the lockbox concept, Modi’s team was adamant that CheckMate would be built to integrate with the actual management and accounting systems being used today.
“A lockbox without the (Vertafore) AIM integration doesn’t save me anything, other than maybe it gets to the bank a little quicker.” Harmon added. “But with CheckMate, there’s no manual entry.”
As an integrated insurance solution, CheckMate works in 3 simple steps:
Secure, Daily Collection – Checks are routed to the closest CheckMate lockbox location for daily collecting, batching and processing.
Dashboard Details – Check images and remittance details are viewable in the ePayPolicy dashboards, so there’s just one dashboard for all your payment types. No additional software required.
Magic Invoice Matching – Customers that connect their accounting systems can utilize CheckMate’s intelligent scanning to match payments with open invoices, eliminating double work and repetitive data entry.
“With CheckMate, the deposits get to the bank faster – by at least 1-2 days, and what used to be 2-3 minutes per check to process has become 2-3 minutes per batch,” said Harmon. “We don’t want to have to spend our time processing checks, we’d rather spend it servicing our customers.”
CheckMate is now available for insurance organizations looking for an integrated solution for modern check payments and accounting.
ePayPolicy ranked #1565 in 2023 Inc. 5000
Austin, TX Aug 16, 2023- Inc. magazine announced that ePayPolicy is No. 1565 on its annual Inc. 5000 list, one of the most well-known rankings of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies.
The ranking provides a data-driven look at the most successful companies within the economy’s most dynamic segment—its independent, entrepreneurial businesses. Chobani, Under Armour, Microsoft, Patagonia, and many other household name brands gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000. This was ePayPolicy’s second year to apply, and second year to make the list.
“We’re honored to be recognized again as one of the fastest growing private companies,” said CEO Mark Engels. “It’s a testament to the value that our products bring to our customers, and the incredible team we have that works hard to build them.”
ePayPolicy was built for the insurance industry and serves them exclusively. ePayPolicy’s founders experienced the firsthand frustration of limited tech solutions and entrenched customer behaviors when it came to payments, leading to most payments still being handled in the form of paper checks.
The company started with secure, online payment pages branded to the insurance organization’s business. Last year, they introduced CheckMate, an integrated lockbox solution for companies still dealing with a mix of online and check payments.
“Our customers continue to tell us what tools they need to keep making payments easier for them,” said Engels. “It’s a partnership that allows us to build the tools that agencies, managing general agents, brokers, carriers and premium finance companies are asking for specifically.”
Already this year, ePayPolicy has announced Payables Connect – an integrated, automated payables solution as well as the upcoming release of Finance Connect, which will allow ePayPolicy’s customers to add integrated premium financing, with their existing partners right at online checkout.
“At the end of the day, we want to make payments one of the easiest things our customers do,” said Engels. “And we are as focused as ever on building the platform to make that a reality.”
About ePayPolicy
ePayPolicy offers easier payment tools, built just for insurance. ePayPolicy’s products bring insurance payments up to speed for agencies, carriers, MGAs and PFCs, with secure online payment pages, automated check processing, payables reconciliation and more. 6,500+ insurance companies trust ePayPolicy and their expert, live support team to handle their payments every day. Learn more: ePayPolicy.com
More about Inc. and the Inc. 5000
Methodology
The 2023 Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2019 and 2022. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2019. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independent—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of December 31, 2022. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2019 is $100,000; the minimum for 2022 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons.
New Product – Finance Connect
We’re thrilled to announce the addition of Finance Connect to our suite of insurance payment and reconciliation products for insurance companies. Finance Connect enables insurance companies to offer premium financing options – with their existing premium finance partners – at the point of online checkout for their insured customers.
“Premium financing is essential in our industry because it gives customers greater payment flexibility with financing options,” said CEO Mark Engels. “We’re combining the ease of integrated online payments with financing at checkout to help improve conversion rates for our customers and eliminate the manual aspects of enrollment in a financing agreement with their partners.”
ePayPolicy has over 6,500 customers in the insurance industry, including Premium Finance Companies (PFCs). Existing customers will have early access, with integrations to their existing PFC partners to ensure a seamless experience for all parties involved.
“As premiums increase, access to financing becomes more important,” said CTO Nish Modi. “Finance Connect is going to help insureds pay faster and bind policies sooner, helping both insurance companies and their PFC partners.”
Finance Connect is the latest integrated product for an industry in need of greater digital efficiency and automated back-office operations. ePayPolicy’s founders experienced firsthand the operational pains of check collection and manual reconciliation in insurance, which led to the company’s first product – secure, online payment pages that were fully customizable to match the insurance company’s brand.
ePayPolicy recently introduced CheckMate, an automated check reconciliation solution that utilizes machine learning, and announced the Payables Connect tools for automating the reconciliation, creation, and payment of market payables.
Finance Connect is the next of several product releases, with the goal of continuing to streamline the accounts payable, receivables and disbursement experience for customers in the insurance industry.
“We want to be the place our customers go to reconcile their payables and receivables and to tie it all together with their existing accounting solutions,” said Modi. “We’re building an industry-wide network that allows money and the associated data to flow freely through the industry while saving time and providing security for our customers.”
Key Features
- Allows insurance companies to work with their existing PFC partners
- Premium financing options presented at checkout alongside option to pay in full via ACH or credit card
- Auto-payment enrollment and payment reminders for enrolled customers
- Simplified financing enrollment and upfront terms for insureds
- Easily generates consolidated premium finance agreements (PFAs)
- ePayPolicy is integrated with over 90% of the most popular agency management systems, saving time and manual data entry
ePayPolicy Wins Built In Austin’s 2023 Best Places to Work Award
Built In announced that ePayPolicy was honored in its 2023 Best Places To Work Awards. The annual awards program includes companies of all sizes, from startups to those in the enterprise, and honors both remote-first employers as well as companies in large tech markets across the U.S.
“It’s always an honor to receive recognition like this, especially in a city like Austin with so many great companies,” said CEO Mark Engels. “Our culture, benefits and smart, motivated people help us keep and attract the talent that makes ePay such a rewarding place to work.”
ePayPolicy celebrated the award of four Comparably awards just last month, and was an Inc. 5000 winner in 2022. The company now serves more than 6,000 customers in the insurance industry.
Built In determines the winners of Best Places to Work based on an algorithm, using company data about compensation and benefits. To reflect the benefits candidates are searching for more frequently on Built In, the program also weighs criteria like remote and flexible work opportunities, programs for DEI and other people-first cultural offerings.
“It’s my honor to congratulate this year’s Best Places to Work winners,” says Sheridan Orr, Chief Marketing Officer, Built In. “These exemplary companies understand their people are their most valuable asset, and they’ve stepped up to meet the modern professional’s new expectations, including the desire to work for companies that deliver purpose, growth and inclusion. These winners set the stage for a human-centered future of work, and we can’t wait to see that future unfold.”
ABOUT BUILT IN’S BEST PLACES TO WORK
Built In’s esteemed Best Places to Work Awards, now in its fifth year, honor companies across numerous categories: 100 Best Places to Work, 50 Best Startup Places to Work, 100 Best Midsize Places to Work, 100 Best Large Places to Work and Editor’s Choice: 100 Best Hybrid Places to Work. The program honors companies – remote, hybrid and in-office – with the best total rewards packages across the U.S. and in the following tech hubs: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC.
ePayPolicy Celebrates Positive Company Culture with Four 2022 Comparably Awards
AUSTIN, TX – ePayPolicy, the insurance industry’s most popular payments platform, announced today four awards that highlight company culture and leadership. The recognition comes from the workplace site Comparably, where ePayPolicy was selected from tens of thousands of companies, winning awards for Best Company Culture, Best CEO, Best Company for Women and Best Company for Diversity.
Comparably Awards are derived from sentiment ratings anonymously provided by employees about their workplaces in multiple categories on Comparably.com during a 12-month period. Winners are then determined based on 20 core culture metrics, ranging from work-life balance and environment to compensation and career growth.
ePayPolicy joins other respected companies in the Small/Medium-sized category, such as Strava, Mixpanel and Route. This was ePayPolicy’s first year to apply.
“We didn’t set out to win vanity awards,” said Allyson Hoffman, ePayPolicy’s Direct of People Operations. “We wanted to hear directly from our people what they felt was working and what we could make better for them. Comparably gave us timely and specific insight, and we were honored that so much of it was so positive.”
“The awards were an unexpected bonus,” added Hoffman.
“Our mission is to delight our customers in the insurance industry,” added CEO Mark Engels. “That’s not possible if our employees don’t feel valued, respected and heard in the workplace. I’m really proud of the work environment we’ve created and the company that we’re building together.”
ePayPolicy was previously honored this year as an Inc. 5000 award winner, as well as one of BuiltIn Austin’s Best Places to Work.
Headquartered in Austin, TX, ePayPolicy is currently hiring for a number of positions. Learn more at epaypolicy.com/careers.
About ePayPolicyBuilt by insurance professionals for the insurance industry, ePayPolicy is the fastest, easiest and most secure way to move money for insurance. ePayPolicy’s products bring insurance payments up to speed for agencies, carriers, MGAs and PFCs, with secure online payment pages and automated check processing, with CheckMate. 6,000+ insurance companies trust ePayPolicy to handle their payments every day. Learn more: ePayPolicy.com