Westpac Banking Corporation subsidiary, BT Insurance, is automating its claims process from home and content insurance through to consumer credit and credit card payment protection.

Part of the BT Financial Group which administers more than $85 billion in funds, the investment and insurance firm plans to streamline its entire claims management operations in a bid to improve customer service and speed to market.

BT Insurance senior manager of business systems, John Williams, said the Fineos Claims solution will position the business for strong future growth.

"We are committed to delivering an exceptional customer experience at every point in the customer contact chain," Williams said.

"This solution will aid the customer experience by supporting the decision making capability of our claims team, improving our data quality and reducing processing times by automating claims management across the business.

"The solution works seamlessly with our existing systems, promoting better claims outcomes and providing the flexibility we need to differentiate ourselves and improve our speed to market."

Williams said there are further automation opportunities for the business following implementation including online lodgement, tracking and provider payments.

In addition to enforcing best-practice rules, the Fineos solution can manage claims across multiple lines of business from life insurance though to property and casualty insurance including complex long tail accident/workers' compensation and bodily injury claims.

Fineos CEO, Michael Kelly, said a key differentiator is its comprehensive case and claim management, integrated customer management and business process management capabilities.

He said this sets it apart from traditional solutions which tend to focus more narrowly on the claim rather than the claimant and the processes involved in managing the claim from start to finish.

This functionality, Kelly said, combined with the strong Fineos reference base within financial services, made it a natural selection for BT Insurance.

"This is another strategic development for Fineos in the Australian market, and represents a further evolution of the solution as world-class," he added.

Speed to market and high volume transactions are driving automation across the financial services industry including insurance.

Financial Services IT spending hit US$342.1 billion in 2007 up 5.9 per cent on the previous year but below the 8.7 per cent growth rate for 2006.

Despite challenging conditions IT investment is expected to have a compound annual growth rate of 6.3 per cent between 2007 and 2009 topping $386.7 billion.

The figures are based on trends analysed by researcher Celent which examines banking, insurance, and securities and investments in North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific regions, in addition to an overview of Latin America and Africa.