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As part of its strategy to automate payouts for health-care and property-and-casualty carriers, Echo Health Inc., a provider of payment technology to insurance carriers, is partnering with KyckGlobal Inc. to enable claimants to receive payments digitally through PayPal, Venmo, push to card through Visa Direct, and the automated clearing house. KyckGlobal will provide the integration to Echo Health’s platform to support those payment options.
To receive a claim payout digitally, policyholders must first validate themselves to their insurance carrier by providing bank-account information and a policy number, for example. Once authenticated, claimants select the payment method by which they prefer to receive their funds. Claims payment can be split across multiple accounts, such as a policyholder’s PayPal wallet and Venmo account, with a designated sum to be deposited into each account.
Since its inception in 1997, Echo Health has focused on automating claims payments in the health-insurance industry. In recent years, however, the company has expanded its business to property-and-casualty insurers.
“As this part of our business grows, we realize we need stronger payment options than checks,” says Brian Young, vice president of marketing for Echo Health.
About 75% of all property-and-casualty claims are paid by check, according to Young. “When you look at the investments by insurers to digitize claims adjudication, it doesn’t make sense for claimants to have to wait a week or more for a check when a claim can be adjudicated in as little as 24 hours,” says Young. “Digitizing claims payments will help us reach a broader audience.”
Digitizing claims is expected to reduce insurers’ payment costs. Paying a claim by paper check can cost between $2 and $3 on average. If the check is lost and must be replaced or delayed in the mail, the cost can rise to as much as $20, depending on the insurer’s efficiency in resolving such issues, says Ashish Bahl, founder and chief executive of KyckGlobal, which provides digital claims payment to several insurance companies.
“Having digital payments means insurers aren’t chasing anything [in the mail] because the payment is instant,” says Bahl. “It’s just one integration to support digital claims payments, as opposed to integrating with multiple vendors.”
Atlanta-based KyckGlobal has been especially active in recent months. In July, the 3-year-old startup announced it was adding cross-border payment functionality, and in June the company said it would enable used-car dealers to accept cash payments at more than 35,000 locations through a deal with Advanced Computers of America Inc. Bahl was formerly chairman and chief executive of Acculynk Inc., whose technology enabled consumers to make online payments through PIN debit cards. First Data Corp., now part of Fiserv Inc., acquired the company in 2017.
