customer data.

Unveiling it internationally yesterday, IBM described it as a business intelligence solution that allows insurance companies to gain a comprehensive view of customers and helps determine how individual customer relationships can be maintained and enhanced.

DecisionEdge for Relationship Marketing, Insurance applies new algorithms from IBM Research to data, so that insurers can integrate information across their many lines of business. It includes integrated hardware, software, consulting and services.

Farmers Insurance, a unit of Zurich Financial Services, and Winterthur Insurance, a unit of CS Group, have already decided to implement the new product.

By analysing large volumes of claims information, it is helping Farmers to more accurately determine the claims risk of its customers.

In an initial project with DecisionEdge, Farmers found that covering a certain type of high-risk sports car had become quite profitable, provided the owner also had at least one other vehicle.

This information helps Farmers to price the car's coverage more affordably, yet still earn targeted margins.

Winterthur will use DecisionEdge as a relationship marketing and prospecting tool to determine which customers are the most likely candidates for new or existing insurance offerings.

DecisionEdge enables insurers to gather, manage and analyse customer and transaction data for the purpose of turning that data into useful information.