Kaplan Financial Compliance, a provider of services and technology solutions for the insurance and securities industries to help manage the producer/representative on-boarding process and career cycle, has introduced appointment processing capability in its CMS G2 compliance solution. The automated feature is designed to cut down on unnecessary state appointment processing fees paid by carriers.

The appointment process allows insurance companies to complete and hold producer appointment requests electronically. Using workflow processes, the system enables users to hold transaction requests for specific states and distribution groups, monitor the aging of the transactions, and release the request for state approval when a sale is made. This process is fully automated and based on business rules built into the system.

"The costs of appointments have long been a challenge in the carrier community, as appointment processing fees can reach up to $60 per state for every producer," says Zach McCoy, vice president compliance services at Kaplan. "Since carriers report 80 percent or more of producers for whom appointments are requested fail to make a sale, carriers are saddled with high appointment costs but with no new business to offset these costs. Carriers are looking for ways to 'park' appointment requests until a sale is made."