Insurers Are Waking Up to Multi-Factor Authentication

May 4, 2021 by Steven Kaye

Insurance use cases for multi-factor authentication (MFA) include distributor access, external user access (e.g., claims vendors, financial advisers), internal user access and policyholder access.

Legislation and regulators are increasingly mandating MFA to ensure greater security as well as to reduce identity theft and other forms of fraud. Examples include the New York State cybersecurity regulation and the NAIC Insurance Data Security Model Law. Insurers have traditionally balanced security against expense and inconvenience to their users, especially if their coverages are marketed to older demographics (e.g., final expense policies). Regulatory mandates combined with growing digital adoption and criminals turning their eyes to life and annuities account takeover means the calculus has changed.