The buzz word for the new millennium is E-Commerce. Everyone is talking about it and everyday a new ".com" company is going into business. The internet has made it very easy to put up such businesses and it has put all these businesses on a level playing field. On the world wide web a multi-billion corporation and a business run by one person from his home PC will create the same foot print. Just like in any business environment a lot of these companies will come up, some will succeed and very likely more will fail. We very strongly feel that the road to success on the net will be paved by the quality of services we provide after an order is received.

The May 2000 issue of the Insurance World magazine marked the launch of Paramount Online, "www.paramount.com.ph". We at Paramount feel that putting our services on the internet is the right move and has come at the best time, not because everyone else is doing it, not because some of our competitors will eventually do it, but because we are now ready to fulfill every promise made on our web site.

As early as last June 1999, we started preparations to extended our services over the internet. It was clear to us even then that in so doing we would need to extend the reach of our services nationwide. These services would not only include sales but would involve a system for collections of premiums or what some call a payment solution and more importantly claims servicing.

Today we have a presence in twenty key cities nationwide and we have plans to expand our Branch Network to more locations in the coming years. We realize that this is not nearly enough to cover the whole archipelago, so on May 19, 2000 in Cebu, during our recent Producers Convention we invited our producers to join our E-Commerce Network. For 50 years these Producers have been our partners in business, they have been instrumental in making Paramount what it is today.

The new economy appears to trumpet the threat of the intermediaries' existence. To us, this is a myth. E-commerce after all is all about alliances and what alliances are easier to make than those that are already in existence and have been for many many years.

In the next six months we expect the number of Paramount Servicing Units to grow from 20 Branches and Extension Offices to over 100, as our Producers (General Agents, Agents and Brokers) come on-line. This can only mean one thing - better service to the insuring public.

We have designed our applications such that our partners in this alliance will require only the simple knowledge of retrieving e-mailed instructions as to the servicing of a client. We are also in the process of exploring other methods of communication including wireless applications through cellular phone not to mention the traditional facsimile method.

Internally we have automated our work flow processes to an almost paperless environment as far back as 1998. This insures that our processes operate in a predictable, consistent and efficient manner. Our applications allow us to monitor a transaction from the moment of initial contact by a client through all the varied phases necessary to fulfill said clients needs, whether it be a request for quotation, an order for a policy to be issued, reporting of a claim or a request for more information. After all, "Service is Our Policy".

Our Home Page (www.paramount.com.ph) was developed using the latest in Flash Technology giving it a dynamic and energetic look, much reflective of our corporate culture. We have, however, kept it free of intricacies making it easy for the client to navigate through our pages. We also made sure that the pages would load onto a browser as speedily as possible as we value our client's time.

The May issue of Insurance World mentioned some of the things a client can do in our site, such as check up on our history, learn about insurance in general and our product lines in particular, get a quote on motor car insurance or even have a policy issued, purchase our specially packaged insurance products (Home Care, Family Protector, Keyman Protector), report a claim, request for policy renewal and make general inquiries. In the very near future we shall be making more of our products available for online quotations and/or purchase, add more information that will be of client interest and allow clients to access their personal account information.

Likewise, for our partners in business, aside from the existing client and business referrals already in place, we shall be enhancing the web site to include a variety of applications such as account inquiries, claims status inquires and other such applications as they may find a need for. The E-Commerce world is such that possibilities are limitless and we intend to take full advantage of it.

Today, our site is the only insurance web site in the country where one can order a policy to be issued online and actually pay for that policy through a credit card. This payment solution is provided by Authoriz.Net. Of course we also accept cash and check payments on delivery. Our aim is to provide convenience and service anywhere, all the time.