How a large Australian industry superannuation fund digitised its insurance claims process in under five weeks, and removed the certified document barrier for members.

The 2020 lockdowns accelerated the digitisation of manual and inefficient business processes across financial services, where paper-based anti-money laundering and know your customer (AML/KYC) steps were an obstacle to individuals accessing products and services.

AUSTRAC encouraged reporting entities to adopt digital processes that supported a seamless, secure and compliant customer journey. Digital onboarding and electronic identity verification (eIDV) matter most where the only way for an organisation to establish someone's identity depends on that person being physically present when identification documents are certified.

For one large Australian industry superannuation fund, that dependency became a live operational problem the moment members could no longer leave their homes.

The Challenge

During the early stages of the national lockdown, members of the fund were unable to get their identification certified to satisfy AML/KYC requirements when submitting insurance claims.

Like many organisations, the fund's process was still paper based. It relied on members obtaining a copy of an original identification document, such as a passport or driver's licence, and having that document physically certified by an authorised person.

That single step brought claims to a halt. Members with a legitimate claim and complete documentation could not progress it, because the one action the process depended on was the one action they could not take.

The Solution

The fund moved its insurance claims process onto LAB Engage, with identity verification handled by LAB Verify.

Electronic identity verification now runs at the point of claim rather than as a separate manual step afterwards, and members upload any additional supporting documentation securely as part of the same application.

The solution went live in as little as five weeks, from the first video conference with the LAB Group solutions team to the first electronic insurance claim submitted online by a member.

The change did more than remove the certification constraint. It converted the claims process from an entirely paper-based, time intensive exercise into a digital one end to end, where the claim is submitted online, identity is verified in the flow, and supporting documents arrive attached to the claim rather than separately.

For members, the result is less friction and more flexibility in how they lodge and progress a claim. For the fund, claims that would previously have stalled now complete.

The Takeaway

The pandemic accelerated digital transformation across most organisations, and forced some initiatives to be prioritised urgently to clear immediate bottlenecks. The organisations that moved fastest were generally those whose existing processes had a single manual dependency they could isolate and replace.

Financial institutions that want to stay relevant have to meet changing member and customer expectations with digital experiences that let people access products and services efficiently and securely, without a step that only works in person.

About LAB Group

LAB Group is an Australian RegTech provider specialising in digital client onboarding, identity verification and compliance orchestration for regulated industries. LAB Group's modular platform, comprising LAB Engage, LAB Verify, LAB Portal and LAB Service, enables institutions, wealth managers, superannuation funds and corporates to onboard clients efficiently while meeting their AML/CTF obligations.

labgroup.com.au

Ready to digitise a manual compliance process? Get in touch with the LAB Group team.

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