Photo of Cynthia Koh, Citi and Miao Chiu, Nan Shan Life Insurance.

This solution called the Envision Project set out with the aim of setting the standard of best practice in the insurance industry around the globe. Nan Shan worked with its banking partner to deliver a host-to-host cash payment/settlement project following a multi-million dollar SAO system integration which is due to go live in early 2017.

The challenge

To remain competitive, Nan Shan was looking to upgrade its treasury operations and control mechanisms. Specifically, Nan Shan was looking to enhance its operational efficiency vis-à-vis an automated, host-to-host collections and payments solution to support its business growth.

The solution

To realise this objective, the company announced that it was embarking on a multi-million dollar project to build the insurer’s next-generation IT infrastructure as part of its multi-year business transformation initiatives. The IT upgrade project, named “Envision,” enhances the efficiency of business processes and creates best practice solutions tailored for the insurance industry in Taiwan. Nan Shan selected SAP to revamp its existing systems in order to improve sales productivity and customer experience across multiple touch points.

The implementation, which began in May 2014, will take two to three years to complete, with more than 350 employees assigned to the project on part-time and full-time bases.

Nan Shan selected Citi as their banking partner based on the bank’s in-depth experience of host-to-host integration, strong technical support from their local and regional teams and strong relationship. Citi was mandated as the first major bank for Nan Shan for its host-to-host cash payment/settlement project following the SAP system integration, which is targeted to go live in February 2017.

Best practice and innovation

The success of the project implementation required collaborations between Citi and Nan Shan’s treasury, finance, IT and support from the SAP team. Post-implementation, Nan Shan is expected to establish a world-class treasury function that delivers a high level of liquidity centralisation, standardisation, process automation and reconciliation. By integrating its ERP system with Citi, Nan Shan will be able to enjoy sizeable savings from payment costs, reduction in error rates, and enhanced internal controls and efficiency. Communications between Nan Shan’s internal teams will also be improved as the H2H solution is entirely transparent.

When asked what it means to be recognised by the Adam Smith Awards Asia, Ernest Chan, President at Nan Shan Life Insurance responded: “It’s such an honour to win an Adam Smith Award Asia for Nan Shan Life. Nan Shan launched the “Envision Project” in 2014 with the aim of setting the standard of best practice in insurance industry around the globe.

“Co-developing with the world’s top-notch software company, SAP, Nan Shan aims to apply state-of-the-art technology to our operation and to build up the new framework of operation, system and better services from the perspective of customers, with a vision of redefining the insurance industry. The recognition is not only the programme but also for Nan Shan’s insight and commitment in developing future business and the whole industry.”

Key benefits

Expected benefits include:

• Improved information security and accuracy vis-à-vis the H2H arrangement connecting SAP and Citi, as Citi can promptly respond if the data transmitted was successful or otherwise. In turn, this will increase satisfaction of Nan Shan’s customers, as manual errors will be reduced and payments will be processed faster.
• Automatic reconciliation of securities positions and settlement details on a daily basis, especially on corporate action events monitoring.
• Enhanced efficiency of asset management, as the system will check the accuracy of accounts on a daily basis to ensure all AP/AR are made and received properly.
• Significantly reduce MIFT quantity, and build the environment upon a Citi approved secure path.