RSA and Accenture Extend Business Process Outsourcing Agreement for Insurance Services

Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has extended for four additional years its contract to provide RSA UK with insurance business process outsourcing (BPO) services.

Under the original contract, signed in 2003, RSA outsourced a range of front- and back-office operations to Accenture, including portions of its sales and service, claims, finance and commercial administration functions that support RSA’s direct, affinity and broker customers. The initial agreement was scheduled to expire in 2010 and was extended in 2009 for two additional years through to the end of 2012.

Under terms of the extended agreement, signed in December 2010, Accenture will continue to provide these services through to the end of 2016 whilst enabling RSA to have flexibility to meet its customer needs and explore other opportunities to support the on-line proposition. Services are delivered through Accenture’s Global Delivery Network using centers in Bangalore and Mumbai, India.

“We extended our relationship because Accenture offered us greater flexibility, enabling us to refine services in an efficient and timely manner to reflect the changing needs of our customers,” said David Pitt, Operations Director for RSA UK. “In addition, we have developed a level of mutual trust and respect over an eight-year period that gives us comfort knowing Accenture will provide the necessary support to RSA as markets and requirements evolve.”

“This contract extension is designed to continue to sharpen our focus on customer service, which remains one of RSA’s top priorities,” said Adrian Brown, CEO of RSA UK.

“We are proud of our track record working with RSA,” commented Mark Robertson, managing director of Accenture Property & Casualty Insurance Services. “The extension of this relationship, combined with the introduction of process changes and more sophisticated performance metrics, will bring more value to RSA, its customers and its brokers.”

This agreement complements a current management consulting and application development and management contract between the two companies. Under the agreement, Accenture provides development, implementation and ongoing maintenance services for RSA UK’s IT applications, including those related to customer relationship management, claims processing, commercial lines products, policy management and back-office operations in the UK and Ireland.

Accenture Property & Casualty Insurance Services, a business service within Accenture’s Financial Services operating group, serves more than 60 property and casualty insurance clients worldwide.

About RSA

With a 300 year heritage, RSA is one of the world’s leading multinational quoted insurance groups. It has the capability to write business in over 130 countries and major operations in the UK, Scandinavia, Canada, Ireland, Asia and the Middle East, Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe. Focusing on general insurance, it has around 23,000 employees and, in 2010, its net written premiums were £7.5bn.

Within the UK, RSA is the second largest commercial lines insurer, covering the insurance and risk management needs of a significant number of FTSE 100 companies. It has a full multi-distribution capability, writing business through brokers and corporate partners, direct and online. RSA is also one of the UK’s top four personal motor and household insurers.

RSA was the first UK carbon neutral insurer. The company has cut its carbon footprint by half since 2000 and has offset the remainder by purchasing voluntary carbon reductions.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 215,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$21.6 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2010. Its home page is www.accenture.com.