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Best’s Credit Ratings Mobile App Puts Information at Agents’ Fingertips

• John Weber
• April 2021
• 

Best's Credit Ratings Mobile App

The Best's Credit Ratings Mobile App allows users to search for insurers by name or AM Best number, review an insurer's Best's Financial Strength Rating and contact information and follow the insurers they're most interested in. Adriana Franco is assistant vice president, product strategy, AM Best. Following is an edited transcript of an interview with Franco.

What information does the AM Best rating app provide?

The Best Credit Ratings Mobile App provides financial strength ratings for rated companies with AM Best. It also provides information about the financial size category of an insurance company. We also provide information on the rating outlook, the rating action. You can find who is the rating analyst at AM Best as well as other contact information for the insurance company.

What changes do you foresee?

There are several opportunities to explore for AM Best through the mobile environment. We are evaluating what are the data needs and the rating needs from insurance agents. This is a market that will need the credit rating at their fingertips in the process of negotiating or placing insurance with policyholders. It is important for them to have the most current rating available.

The idea will be for them to get more information about the rating, maybe understanding when the rating was placed for the first time, a few key metrics that determine the financial stability of the rating, as well as important information about where the company is domiciled or where it is licensed to do business.

What feedback have you received about the app?

We have received a lot of feedback in terms of how it's being used. The app is being used where they are talking to a policyholder or with a business when there is planning on setting coverage for insurance. The insurance agents are facing a big challenge by having multiple resources at once. Sometimes they are in the office, where they will rely on the website, but the mobile app will be used when they are on the go. That's where AM Best is trying to expand their current coverage.

Are these sort of apps hard to develop? What's the challenge?

There are a lot of challenges trying to develop a good mobile app. You need to ensure that you are delivering value and that the information you are providing is timely, that it's accurate, that it's comprehensive. At AM Best, we pay very close attention to these challenges, and that goes to web design as well as mobile app design.

Once you have developed the app, you have tested the app, you need to deploy the app within the different marketplaces. You need to bring those to the attention of users and then you need to minimize the uninstallations of the mobile app by providing relevant information that will help the user to do their everyday work more seamlessly.

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