Guidewire Software Launches Guidewire BillingCenter

New billing system enables P&C carriers to enhance customer retention and improve bottom-line results

SAN MATEO, Calif., April 25, 2007:

Guidewire Software®, Inc., a leading provider of solutions for property and casualty insurers, today announced the launch and immediate availability of Guidewire BillingCenter™ 1.0, a comprehensive billing system for all lines of property and casualty (P&C) insurance. Guidewire BillingCenter 1.0 is a 100% web-based system-of-record designed to: make it easier for insurers to manage agent commissions; automate the billing lifecycle; design flexible billing, payment and delinquency plans; and enable rapid integration with external payment systems – i.e. EFT, EBPP, check writing, payroll deduction, etc. Six carriers are currently implementing BillingCenter. BillingCenter is available as a standalone system or as part of the Guidewire InsuranceSuite™ and can be integrated to an insurer’s legacy systems or third party applications.

Billing is a key function of an insurer’s customer service and retention efforts. This core operation is often a primary touch point with policyholders. “Replacing legacy billing systems with flexible, modern systems can make carriers more able to meet the demands of agents and insureds,” said Matthew Josefowicz, managing director of the global insurance group at research and advisory firm Celent. "Given Guidewire's success in claims and momentum in other core systems, BillingCenter is likely to generate strong interest among insurers."

Customer retention is a key contributor to a carrier’s success and its bottom-line results. BillingCenter helps carriers achieve these goals by providing:

• Flexibility to design billing, payment, and delinquency plans that meet the needs of customers and agents;
• Automated billing processes and exception handling;
• Calculation and payment of agent commissions according to defined commission plans;
• Ability to interface with external payment systems – i.e. EFT, EBPP, check writing, payroll deduction, etc; and
• Detailed history of account and policy information, payments, and transactions – in a single console.

“We had already implemented Guidewire’s ClaimCenter solution and were impressed with both the company and the product,” said Tim Thackaberry, Director, Information Technology, New Mexico Mutual Group. “That initial experience went a long way in influencing our decision to select BillingCenter as the replacement system for our legacy billing.”

Guidewire BillingCenter provides property and casualty insurers of all sizes a modern, flexible system for managing the end-to-end billing process for all lines of business. It is 100% modern, developed in Java for the J2EE standard.

“Guidewire BillingCenter shares a common platform with our ClaimCenter and PolicyCenter products. This enabled us to build a relatively mature product in a fast timeframe,” said Ken Branson, vice president, development, Guidewire Software. “Working in partnership with our customers, we have been able to build a product that meets their needs. We are pleased by the product’s favorable market response.”

About Guidewire Software

Guidewire Software is a provider of core system software to the global Property/Casualty (general) insurance industry. Designed to be flexible and scalable, Guidewire solutions give insurers the capability to deliver excellent service, increase market share and lower operating costs. Guidewire InsuranceSuite™, consisting of Guidewire PolicyCenter®, Guidewire ClaimCenter® and Guidewire BillingCenter® spans the key functional areas in insurance – underwriting and policy administration, claims management, and billing. Guidewire is headquartered in San Mateo, California, with offices in Beijing, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, Munich, Paris, Sydney, Tokyo, and Toronto. For more information, please visit http://www.guidewire.com/.