fintechbenchmark.com: The Fintech Benchmark

Analytics & Reporting

Facilities for analyzing rating results, identifying issues, and supporting pricing strategy decisions.

Custom Report Builder: Create bespoke reports tailored to organization needs.
Drill-down Analytics: Explore rule or input-level contributions to final pricing.
Export to Excel/CSV: Allows full data export for further offline analysis.
Integration with BI Tools: Pushes data into external BI solutions (e.g., Tableau, Power BI).
Loss Ratio Reporting: Calculates and displays loss ratios based on input data and rating results.
Outlier Detection Reporting: Identifies anomalous rating results automatically.
Premium Distribution Analysis: Shows how premiums are distributed across insured populations, geography, or other factors.
Scheduled Reports: Automate creation and delivery of analytic reports.
Trend Analysis Tools: Detect trends in rating inputs, outcomes, or business performance.
Visualization Tools: Graph and visualize rating outputs and trends.

Compliance & Regulatory Support

Supports adherence to insurance industry regulations and internal compliance monitoring.

Audit Logging: Tracks all rating rule changes and calculation executions for full auditability.
Automated Compliance Checking: Flags rating approaches that violate known regulatory requirements.
Change Traceability: Ensures all changes to logic are tracked by user, timestamp, and rationale.
Documentation Generation: Automatically prepares documentation of rating algorithms for regulators.
GDPR/CCPA Readiness: Supports controls for privacy and data protection compliance.
Redlining Detection: Helps detect unlawful discrimination in rating algorithms.
Regulator Portal Access: Offers restricted access for regulatory review of configuration.
Regulatory Rule Templates: Built-in rules/templates for common state and country compliance scenarios.
Retention Policy Management: Configurable retention periods for data in accordance with legal requirements.
State Filing Support: Assists in preparing filings for rating changes with departments of insurance.
Surcharge/Discount Rule Compliance: Automatically enforces allowed surcharges and discounts for each jurisdiction.

Configurability & Flexibility

The extent to which non-developers or configuration specialists can adjust and customize the rating engine.

Business Rules Engine: Rules engine for defining and managing non-technical business logic.
Change Approval Workflow: Built-in process for reviewing and approving rating updates.
Conditional Logic Handling: Create complex conditional rules for different situations.
Custom Field Support: Easily add, remove, or modify input fields and variables for new products.
Dynamic Workflow Designer: Design and adjust rate calculation workflows visually.
Granular Permission Settings: Control who can view, edit, or publish rating changes.
Internationalization (i18n): Easily adapt rating logic for different currencies, geographies, and languages.
Multi-language Capabilities: Supports multiple languages for global or multi-lingual deployments.
No-code/Low-code Rule Editing: Allows business users to modify rating logic without programming.
Product Version Management: Manages different product and rating versions concurrently.
Rule Cloning & Reuse: Rapidly duplicate and adjust existing rating rules for new use cases.
Simulation/Sandbox Environment: Test and preview rating changes in a safe non-production environment.

Core Rating Logic

Features relating to the core computation of premiums, including the ability to define, implement, and update rating algorithms and rules.

Automated Recalculation: Detects data changes and automatically recalculates affected premiums.
Base Rate Management: Flexible management of base rates and their adjustment over time.
Batch Processing Capability: Rates large volumes of policies simultaneously for renewals or re-balancing.
Custom Rating Algorithm Support: Ability to define and manage custom rating logic and algorithms, adaptable to changing actuarial requirements.
Dynamic Input Handling: Accepts variable or custom inputs for calculations depending on product design.
Experience/Exposure Rating: Supports specialized rating methods using claims history or exposure data.
Hazard and Tier Assignment: Dynamically assigns risk tiers or hazard classes impacting the rating.
Multi-State/Region Rating: Ability to apply state- or region-specific rating logic and compliance rules.
Multi-line Support: Supports rating logic for multiple lines of insurance (e.g., property, auto, life).
Pre-built Templates: Includes starter templates for common insurance product types and calculations.
Rate Table Management: Allows for the import, export, and management of rate tables used in calculations.
Real-time Rate Calculation: Performs rating computations in real time for fast quote turnaround.
Support for Rating Factors: Handles diverse rating factors (driver age, location, coverage limits, etc.) within algorithms.
Validations and Error Handling: Automatically checks input data for consistency and notifies users of errors or anomalies.
Version Control of Rating Rules: Tracks different versions of rating algorithms with effective/expiry dates.

Deployment & Operations

Characteristics related to the deployment, maintenance, and operational management of the solution.

Automated Backups: Configurable data backup and restore processes.
Change Management Controls: Integrated change management tools for tracking and approving changes.
Cloud Deployment Option: Available as a hosted SaaS or private cloud deployment.
Containerization Support: Supports deployment as containers (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes).
Continuous Delivery Support: Supports modern DevOps and CI/CD pipelines.
Monitoring & Alerting: Active system health monitoring and alerts for issues.
Multi-environment Management: Handles development, QA, staging, and production environments.
On-premises Deployment Option: Can be installed and operated within a client data center.
Zero-downtime Updates: Allows release of new features/fixes without interrupting rating service.

Integration Capabilities

Functions ensuring the rating engine can communicate effectively with other insurance systems, data sources, and third parties.

API Call Latency: The average response time for a rating API call.
API Integration: Exposes rating logic via REST/SOAP APIs for seamless use by portals, agencies, and partners.
Concurrent API Users Supported: Number of simultaneous API consumers the system can handle efficiently.
Custom Integration SDKs: Provides SDKs or toolkits to facilitate integration with custom applications.
Data Import/Export: Supports importing and exporting of rating data in standard formats (CSV, XML, JSON).
Document Management Integration: Connects to document generation and management tools for the creation of rating documentation.
Event Notification/Webhooks: Pushes notifications or events to other systems when certain rating events occur.
Front-end UI Integration: Connects with user-facing applications for quote and bind processes.
Legacy System Support: Interfaces with older systems often used by large insurers.
Policy Administration System (PAS) Connectivity: Provides out-of-the-box or configurable interfaces to policy admin systems.
Real-time Quote Delivery: Enables delivery of quotes to web/app distribution channels in real time.
Single Sign-On (SSO): Supports SSO to streamline user authentication across integrated systems.
Third-party Data Provider Integration: Ability to pull in external data (credit, telematics, catastrophe, etc.) into rating calculations.
Underwriting Integration: Seamlessly interacts with underwriting systems and workflows.

Performance & Scalability

Metrics and capabilities pertaining to system speed, responsiveness, and ability to scale under increased load.

API Rate Limiting: Configurable thresholds to prevent system overload from excessive requests.
Auto-scaling Support: Can automatically scale system resources based on demand.
Average Calculation Time: Typical duration of a single premium calculation in a standard environment.
Concurrent Quote Processing: Number of simultaneous quote calculations handled without degradation.
Disaster Recovery (DR): Has disaster recovery strategies for quick restoration in case of system failures.
Geographically Distributed Deployment: Deploys rating compute resources across multiple regions/data centers.
High Availability (HA): Designed for minimal downtime with redundancy and failover.
Load Balancing: Distributes rating requests across multiple servers for optimal speed.
Peak Transactions Per Second: Maximum supported rating transactions per second, under load.
Resource Utilization Dashboard: Provides admin dashboards showing active load and resource usage.
Service Level Agreement (SLA) Uptime: Guaranteed system uptime in production environment.

Security & Data Protection

Controls for securing sensitive rating data and protecting against threats, misuse, or data breaches.

Data Encryption at Rest: All data stored by the system is encrypted and protected from unauthorized access.
Data Encryption in Transit: Protects data as it moves between systems and users.
Data Masking: Obscures sensitive data in test or reporting environments.
Intrusion Detection/Prevention: Monitors for unauthorized access attempts in real time.
Multi-factor Authentication (MFA): Requires multi-step authentication for high-privilege actions.
Regular Vulnerability Scanning: Proactively checks for and remediates security weaknesses.
Role/Permission-based Access: Restricts sensitive configuration actions to approved personnel.
Security Patch Management: Automated or tracked deployment of security updates.
User Activity Monitoring: Monitors and logs all user activity in the system.
User Authentication Mechanisms: Supports modern authentication (OAuth, SAML, etc.).

Support & Vendor Services

Features and service characteristics supporting the buyer’s success in implementing and using the product.

24/7 Technical Support: Vendor provides round-the-clock technical support services.
Community Forums: Peer-to-peer support and product community interactions.
Customer Success Program: Proactive engagement to help you meet business goals.
Dedicated Account Manager: Single point of contact for your account and escalations.
Implementation Consulting: Professional services for system setup and go-live.
Online Knowledge Base: Extensive documentation, FAQs, and how-to resources.
Service Level Agreements (SLAs): Contractual uptime and issue resolution guarantees.
Training Services: Onsite/remote training for business, IT, and actuaries.

Test and Quality Assurance

Tools for ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the rating calculations as algorithms are developed or changed.

Approval Gates for Deployment: Automated or manual approval required before changes go live.
Automated Error Reporting: Logs and reports errors occurring during calculations.
Automated Test Suite: Includes built-in automated tests to validate rating outcomes.
Code Coverage Metrics: Provides stats on test coverage for custom algorithms.
Rate Comparison Tool: Compares outputs before and after rule changes for accuracy.
Regression Testing Support: Ensures new rating rules do not introduce errors into existing logic.
Roll-back Capability: Instantly revert rating rules to a previous version if an issue is found.
Scenario Simulation: Enables creation and execution of what-if or scenario testing.
Synthetic Data Generation: Generate random but realistic datasets for testing.
Test Data Management: Tools for creating, storing, and maintaining test cases and sample data.

User Experience & Usability

Features designed to support ease of use, quick onboarding, and effective use by business, technical, and support users.

Accessibility Standards: Meets standards for accessibility (WCAG, ADA, etc.).
Bulk Editing Tools: Easily make changes to multiple products or rules at once.
Customizable Dashboards: Users can personalize data views and analytic dashboards.
Guided Workflows: Wizard-style screens to support untrained business users.
Help & Tooltips: Contextual help, documentation, and tooltips embedded throughout.
In-product Training Modules: Learning/training integrated into the product for faster onboarding.
Intuitive User Interface: User-friendly dashboard for configuring, monitoring, and managing rating logic.
Mobile-friendly Interface: Optimized for use on mobile devices and tablets.
Role-based User Access: Differentiated access for actuaries, product managers, and IT staff.
Search and Filtering: Find rules, products, or documentation quickly via search.

Rating Engines features explained

for Policy Administration