The Nippon Life Insurance Co. group, Sumitomo Marine & Fire Insurance Co. and Mitsui Marine & Fire Insurance Co. said they have jointly set up a venture to develop a computerized support system for the sale of policies.
This is the first time that major Japanese insurers have banded together to develop a common computerized support system.
The Tokyo-based venture, Insurance System Solution, is initially capitalized at 200 million yen, the three firms said Tuesday. Nippon Life, Mitsui Marine, Sumitomo Marine, and Nissay Dowa General Insurance Co. hold equal shares in the venture.
Sumitomo Marine sent one of its executives as the president of the venture. Sumitomo Marine and Mitsui Marine are set to merge this October.
The venture is intended to design an industry standard for the management of client databases and the management of insurance policies to cope with a projected rise in the number of insurance agents along with an industry realignment.
The four insurers are inviting other insurers to join the computer system venture and have urged software makers to cooperate in their effort.