Vulcan Solutions and One Direct, Insurance Intermediary System

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The Irish Post Office selects Vulcan Solutions to implement their strategy to provide insurance products and financial services

The Irish Post Office, An Post, is a company with a strong brand and an extensive retail infrastructure. In 1998, An Post considered a strategy to establish a subsidiary that would sell a range of insurance products and financial services.

Vulcan Solutions was retained to complete a feasibility study, which endorsed this strategy and confirmed an excellent market opportunity. A new brand, One Direct, was created for the new operation. Vulcan Solutions was awarded the contract to provide enterprise software and consultancy services to One Direct.

About One Direct

> Launched in March 1999

> Sells a range of insurance products and financial services through call centre and Internet channels

> Operates from a contact centre in Athlone, Ireland

> www.onedirect.ie

> Case Study

"One Direct's success has been achieved because of a number of factors, and the key component linking all factors is Vulcan Solutions. From the time of their initial appointment as enterprise software providers and consultants, and through the continuing relationship, they have proven themselves to be exceptional. When selecting our software provider for the key integration of two channels, Vulcan Solutions led the field. Their ability to react to our requirements has allowed us to meet our goals, and guaranteed our success."

Managing Director
One Direct

"Our strategy was to provide an unprecedented range of financial products, and we knew that technology would be key to achieving this. Vulcan enables us to implement new products in short time-scales, and it connects us with all of our product partners. Vulcan provides a single integrated platform for our call centre and Internet channels. Our customers like the choice of channels, and we like the simplicity of managing all of our business on one system and database."

Operations Manager
One Direct

One Direct mile-stones

1999:
Motor Insurance
Home Insurance
Premium Finance (2 products)

2000:
Credit Card
Personal Loans
Credit Insurance
Life Over 50s
Serious Illness
Term Life Assurance

2001:
Travel Insurance
Guaranteed Bond
Tracker Bond
Regular Savings

2002:
www.onedirect.ie

2003:
Mortgages
Mortgage Protection

One Direct's Objectives

Develop a new brand for financial services
Create a greenfield multi-product financial services business
Develop a multi-channel operation incorporating a call centre, retail network and the Internet
Create a customer-centric, competitive and cost effective business

Choice of Software

Vulcan Venture from Vulcan Solutions

Reasons for Choosing Vulcan

Vulcan is proven
Vulcan is an enterprise system that enables One Direct to run and grow their business on one integrated platform
Vulcan enables rapid deployment of finance products
Vulcan is scalable for users, sites and channels
Vulcan provides a software solution for One Direct's specific business needs

Results

One Direct is the market leader in the direct financial services industry in Ireland.
One Direct achieved profitability in its second year and remains a profitable operation.
One Direct has more than 100,000 customers, and has achieved customer retention rates of more than 85%. Conversion rates range between 10 and 20%, depending on the product.
One Direct launched 14 separate finance products through Vulcan during a 30 month period. Staff numbers have grown from an initial team of 10, to 120 people today.
In 2001, One Direct achieved the ISO 9001:2000 quality award for all aspects of its business.