ACORD is playing a vital role in the growing international insurance market as the organization responds to increasing requests from overseas groups to provide information about its standards and messages. Australia, India, South Africa and Russia are all markets in which ACORD has expanded its effort, according to ACORD executives.

The Russian market is especially interesting because of its great potential, says Puneet Bharal, head of implementation services for ACORD. The organization was contacted back in 2007 when “the market in Russia was just getting used to competition and de-nationalization,” recalls Bharal. “Insurance was a brand-new industry, and companies wanted traction and growth.” Now, however, the Russian market is becoming more sophisticated and is more focused on achieving greater workflow efficiencies, improving operational efforts, and enhancing business-to-business (B2B) operations.

Bharal adds that in August 2011 ACORD was invited back into the Russian market by the country's insurance trade association to get involved in streamlining accounting, settlements and claims processing. ACORD is currently helping implement systems for electronic back-office operations (ELOT) and electronic claims office transactions (ECOT). ACORD also is helping establish a centralized aggregation website which would allow client access to comparison quotes for the insurance industry.