Insurance Brokers Network Australia (IBNA) has sold its broker management system to a company owned 90% by insurance technology and business process outsourcing group Xchanging and 10% by IBNA.

IBNA Chairman Gary Gribbin says bringing a global technology business on board will accelerate the development of BrokersIT.

“IBNA is not a technology company,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au. “It does not have the resources to realise the potential of the technology.”

Xchanging and IBNA will launch X-alt at the Austbrokers & IBNA Member Services convention in Barcelona next month.

About six brokers use X-alt at this stage. Mr Gribbin says Xchanging’s involvement will let brokers “demonstrate innovation to our customers through the development of applications that have a real impact on the way they do business”.

Xchanging National Insurance Solutions Manager Scott Wilford says the acquisition of X-alt is a milestone for the company in Australia. The platform complements Xchanging’s business processing services to free brokers from back-office tasks.

“This amplifies our proposition to bring substantial value to the Australian insurance broking industry,” he said.