Insurance Payments Platform Ascend Endorsed by Agency Collective

The insurance payments platform Ascend was endorsed as a payments and financing platform for the member network serviced by the Agency Collective (The AC).

Providing all-in-one financing, collections and payables, Ascend aims to help distributors get rid of labor-intensive processes while providing customers with a seamless digital checkout and financing experience.

The AC partners with insurance firms and hosts a network of over 700 agencies. The company and network strive to assist agents in moving from captive to independent models and are committed to helping independent agency channels across the industry, according to a press release on Tuesday (Aug. 16).

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Chris Peabody, head of strategic partnerships at Ascend, said teaming with the AC and their network of agency members will serve the independent agency channel and their clients, which is something Ascend feels strongly about.

The AC aligned with Ascend to nail down the best tech tools independent agents can use to enhance internal processes that can lead to an improved checkout experience. The AC’s network of agency members can tap Ascend’s technology to solve the inefficiencies of agency bills and premium financing processes, per the release.

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“Ascend is tackling one of, if not the, biggest pain points that agents are dealing with — the antiquated and cumbersome payments system. We’re proud to endorse them and engrain them into our network of agents,” said Kenny Urbania, CEO of the AC.

Ascend deepened relationships with other InsurTechs this year, including MGAs, AMS and carriers to complement the innovations being made by companies in the insurance market, per the release.