Financial Keyosk Introduces ‘Agency in a Box’

Illinois-based Financial Keyosk has introduced a new technology platform, “Agency in a Box,” which the company says is a turnkey solution that will allow thousands of agents to start their own independent agencies with little more than a computer with Internet access.

According to Financial Keyosk, using Agency in a Box, independent agencies will be able to operate as efficiently as so-called “captive” agencies, which contractually sell products from only one major carrier. Independent agencies with Financial Keyosk’s solution will be able to offer customers a broad choice of products from 20 top-tier carriers.

“Agency in a Box will enable independent agents and carriers alike to tap into the underserved small commercial market, which is estimated at $40 billion,” John Dawson, CEO of Financial Keyosk, remarked.

Agency in a Box puts necessary applications for managing an agency on an agent’s desktop—online application access to insurance carriers such as Zurich North America, Kemper Insurance Companies, Principal Financial and The St. Paul; agency sales, accounting and management tools; a complete customer care operation with licensed service personnel; along with other facilities that previously made starting a new small agency costly and logistically very difficult.

The company says it removes the barriers to starting and running an independent agency, including care-center support, agency management systems, access to carriers, online ACORD applications.

Financial Keyosk’s solution represents a “huge paradigm shift” for the insurance industry, Dawson said. “Keyosk Connected” agents using Agency in a Box will have access to personal, small commercial and mid-sized commercial products with the backroom support of licensed agents to help them cross-sell products where an agent may have limited expertise.

For example, agents versed in property & casualty insurance will be able to sell life products more easily. This ability enables independent agencies to operate with the speed and efficiency of the captive agency system without the contractual limitation of a single carrier. By offering products from multiple carriers, small agencies will help small commercial customers find products tailored to their industry from top-tier insurers—a capability few independent agents could provide before Agency in a Box.

Dawson also described additional benefits from Financial Keyosk’s solution: Agency-in-a-Box agents will receive higher commissions than most independent agencies; the agent will own the book of business in two years; agents will own and operate their agency under their own agency name and carry a “Keyosk Connected” label, branding the business as member of a larger, fully-supported network.

Four companies worked together to build the Agency in a Box platform. Financial Keyosk built the infrastructure, backroom, contact-center technology and lined up the carrier markets; XDimensional Technologies provides an ASP agent management system, sales tools and accounting; BCF Technology helped Financial Keyosk create SWEAP (Simple Web Enabled Assisted Prefill)—a SEMCI model for efficient access to the carriers’ Point of Sale systems using standard ACORD forms. Agency in a Box was built entirely on a Microsoft platform.

Topics Carriers Agencies