Sun Sets on Telstra Insurance Processing Arm

January 3, 2008: Telstra’s eBusiness Services have fallen under the hammer to Atlanta based software and e-commerce system provider to the insurance industry, Ebix Inc.

The sale for the Telstra arm of insurance processing services was completed this week with an exchange of $50 million in cash.

Ebix says it will change the Telstra name to EbixExchange Australia immediately, naming Leon D’Apice as head of all its Australian operations.

D’Apice said in a statement that EbixExhcange Australia would now work to address initiatives in the local market that Telstra eBusiness had not taken out. “Namely claims, settlements and negotiated risks,” he said.

“We intend to do that while making additional endeavours to improve the existing Sunrise Exchange business experience for the existing customers,” he said, referring to the Telstra eBusiness Services trading name.

Telstra’s insurance exchange is used by an estimated 84 percent of insurance brokers in Australia, processing around 4.7 million transactions across 1.4 million policies.

Telstra acquired the business in two tranches in 1999 and 2000 to enable electronic transactions of general insurance policies. The business employs 44 people, predominantly in Sydney.

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