Zurich Life Joins E-Z Data’s DataXchange Online Carrier Community

PASADENA, CA, September 29, 2004—E-Z Data, Inc., the leading provider of front-office systems for insurance companies, broker-dealers, general agents, agents, and investment advisors, today announced the addition of Zurich Life, a wholly owned subsidiary of Banc One Insurance Holdings, a subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase & Co, to its community of DataXchange™ Online users. DataXchange is E-Z Data’s data aggregation solution for the insurance brokerage industry.

Zurich Life is now part of a fast growing DataXchange Online user community of top carriers that are using DataXchange Online to proactively exchange new business and policy information with their independent distribution channels. Using DataXchange Online, carriers can provide their distributors with continuously updated pending case status, virtually eliminating the need for application status requests.

"Zurich Life is very pleased to have the opportunity to increase its support for our Brokerage General agents,” said Ken Olson, Executive Vice President at Zurich Life. “E-Z Data's SmartOffice™ for Agency Management System is used by several of our General Agents. As we all know, pending case status is key to our business. The E-Z Data partnership will allow us to provide pending data directly to our General Agents and thereby reduce the amount of work required by the General Agent's staff. Zurich Life prides itself on looking for opportunities to use technology to achieve our business objectives and to work more efficiently with our General Agents. We view this partnership with E-Z Data as an essential part of being an industry technology leader.”

DataXchange Online is designed specifically to meet the insurance brokerage industry’s unique data-integration needs, serving as a centralized hub that securely moves critical application and policy information from insurance carriers to third-party distributors such as BGAs. This rapidly deployable solution provides seamless business-to-business electronic movement of data in all aspects of insurance processing – from field application upload, to automated underwriting, to distributor policy print – to significantly reduce costs and improve application turnaround time. With a single interface, third-party distributors can receive feeds and updates from multiple carriers, while carriers are able to update multiple BGAs and other distributors with the latest information. DataXchange Online is compatible with ACORD and NAILBA data standards and requires no proprietary software in the carrier’s data center.

“More and more carriers are finding that delivering better service to their agencies results in greater loyalty and more premium per producer. DataXchange Online is designed specifically to deliver the aggregated data Zurich Life’s agencies need to help them reach their sales goals,” said Dale Okuno, President and Chief Executive Officer at E-Z Data. “Now in use by more than two dozen major carriers, DataXchange Online is filling the communication gap between carriers, BGAs, and independent producers.”

About Zurich Life
Zurich Life is a customer-driven provider of life insurance and financial services products, including term and universal life insurance, fixed and variable annuities, and other solutions designed to help its customers manage risk, accumulate assets, and safeguard their futures. In September, 2003, Zurich Life was acquired by, and become a business unit of, Bank One Corporation. In July, 2004, Bank One and JPMorgan Chase merged to become JPMorgan Chase & Co.

About E-Z Data, Inc.
Leading financial services organizations and top financial advisors worldwide rely on E-Z Data’s practice management, agency management, and CRM solutions to systematize proactive, hi-touch communication with clients, increase sales, and reduce operational costs. E-Z Data solutions are used by more than a quarter million financial services professionals and industry-leading firms including HSBC, M Financial, MetLife, National Financial Partners, ProEquities, Prudential, Royal Alliance, and Securian. For more information about E-Z Data’s solutions, go to www.ezdata.com or call 800-777-9188.

Contacts:

CaroleAnne Hardy
E-Z Data, Inc.
caroleanne@ez-data.com
626-585-3505