The top-level Internet domain ‘.insurance’ should be available to the industry late this year, according to a financial services-backed organization that operates generic domains including ‘.bank.’
“We see a tremendous opportunity for ‘.insurance’ to serve as a platform for innovation in insurance services,” says Craig Schwartz, managing director of fTLD (the company that has signed the contract to operate the ‘.insurance’ generic top-level domain), “and securing the right to operate this top-level domain is the first step necessary to translate the community’s interests and hard work into the reality.”
The group, fTLD, submitted an application to the domain-approval organization, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), back in May 2012. fTLD was created in 2011 by a group of banks, insurance companies and financial services trade associations after ICANN said it would accept applications for financial top-level domains.
Those in the industry primarily support the new domain name as an added security for consumers. fTLD, for example, promises that ‘.insurance’ will have enhanced security and all applicants will be “verified as legitimate member of the insurance community.”
And given the recent spate of cyber hacking – like that at Sony Pictures and Anthem – having a secured, verifiable domain name will go a long way to instilling confidence among clients who are looking for cyber coverage from brokers.
“These incidents (Sony, Target and Anthem) underscore the importance of performing due diligence with all vendor relationships, before, during and after contracting services,” says John Farley, the head of Cyber Risk at Hub International. “Lessons learned from these high profile breaches can benefit other organizations.”
Backers hope the new domain will help prevent users from being redirected to fake insurance websites and limit the ability of spammers to send emails from a fake .insurance domain.
“This major milestone will allow us to move forward with our initiative to enhance consumer confidence in the online financial system by creating a trusted, protected, more secure and easily identifiable space on the Internet for the insurance community,” said Schwartz. “The new domain will be operated in a highly restrictive manner with strict eligibility requirements designed to ensure that the space is used by verified insurance industry members.”
Brokers, however, are reserved on whether this move will pay dividends for the industry.
“It would be worth exploring to me but I don’t think it will pay large gains,” said Adam Mitchell, president of Mitchell & Whale Insurance in Whitby, Ont. “Hard enough to get people to remember and go to ‘.com.’”
For Mitchell, the proof is in the pudding when you look at other domain sites.
“I don’t think all the other extensions have caught on just yet,” said Mitchell. “I think we’re five years out plus of those making any impact.”
Another broker, Mike O’Grady of O’Grady & Associates Insurance Services Inc. in Tillsonburg, Ont., agrees that people are already comfortable with ‘.com.’
“I agree with Adam. Websites have been set up already by all,” O’Grady told Insurance Business. “It is questionable as to whether it will catch on. It is one of those things where hindsight will be 20-20.”
fTLD has an advisory council of insurance industry organizations that includes:
- American Council of Life Insurers (United States)
- American Insurance Association (United States)
- Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association Inc. (Canada)
- European Banking Federation (Belgium)
- Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (United States)
- HSBC Holdings plc (United Kingdom)
- Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, Inc. (United States)
- Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (China)
- Insurance Bureau of Canada (Canada)
- Insurance Ireland (Ireland)
- Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (United States)
- Suncorp Group (Australia)
- U.S. Bancorp (United States)
The group already has a similar contract with ICANN to operate the .bank domain, which it said it expects to make available by mid-2015, several months before .insurance will go public.
In that case, the American Bankers Association had initially opposed ‘.bank’ but have changed their tune, seeing the domain name as a way to enhance security and trust amid growing cyber risk concerns.
“Our organizations took the lead on this to ensure that the banking industry – not outsiders – would operate ‘.bank’,” said Frank Keating, ABA president, “and that only legitimate members of the banking community could have a ‘.bank’ site.”
