Every insurance agency has a version of the same story. A Customer Service Representative (CSR) opens a premium finance portal in one tab, Applied Epic® in another, (have you switched to Epic Browser yet?) and starts keying in data that already exists in the policy quote or Applied Epic. They wait for a confirmation email, toggle back to Applied Epic to document the result, and move on to the next account, hoping nothing fell through the cracks.
It is a workflow that works (technically). But it also costs your team time, creates room for error, and keeps premium financing locked inside a process that most agencies offer only when the insured specifically asks.
Applied Pay® brings the entire insurance premium financing workflow inside Applied Epic, and a new AI-infused capability removes the last remaining friction from the process.
Why Premium Financing Still Creates So Much Friction
For the insurance agency, premium financing serves as a reliable revenue stream and helps clients secure the right level of coverage without the burden of a single large premium payment.
The concept is straightforward; the workflows around it are anything but.
Whether your team uses portals, emailed spreadsheets, or a combination of both, the pattern is the same: leave Applied Epic, rekey data, wait, come back, and update the record manually.
The friction is not just about extra clicks. It’s about what that friction prevents, such as:
Friction Point #1: Visibility gaps
Once a premium finance agreement (PFA) is generated in a portal, there is no automatic status feedback in Applied Epic. Agents rely on email notifications, portal logins, or hallway conversations to find out whether an insured has paid and a policy can be bound.
Friction Point #2: Inconsistent processes
Research with Applied Epic agencies confirmed that premium financing workflows vary not just from agency to agency, but from desk to desk within the same office. Some team members use portals. Others email spreadsheets. Many are unaware that real-time integrations already exist.
Friction Point #3: Missed revenue
Across nearly every agency we observed, financing only comes up when the insured asks about it. That is a significant missed opportunity – both for agencies looking to differentiate during the sales process and for insureds who would benefit from more flexible payment options.
How Does Premium Financing Work Inside Applied Epic?
Applied Epic's premium finance workflow already handles the heavy lifting. The new intelligent document-to-data capability removes that last bottleneck - needing to leave Epic to manually update a separate portal. Here is how Embedded Premium Financing works in Applied Epic compared to more traditional premium finance workflows.
| Traditional Workflow for Premium Finance | Using the Embedded Premium Finance Workflow in Applied Epic |
|---|---|
| CSR rekeys policy details into a separate portal, duplicating work already completed in the management system. | CSR drags a policy quote into Applied Epic. AI extracts and uploads the data automatically. |
| CSR submits data in the portal, waits for the agreement, then sends it to the insured manually. | Applied Epic generates the PFA in real time. CSR sends a secure payment link in one step. |
| CSR checks email, the portal, or colleagues to confirm payment, then updates Applied Epic manually. | Payment confirmation, financing details, and policy information are written back to Applied Epic automatically. |
| Financing is offered only when the insured asks. The option is absent from the payment experience. | Financing appears as a payment option at checkout with no agent intervention required. |
For agencies new to this capability, it eliminates the manual effort from day one. For insurance agencies already using it, this is the upgrade that makes the workflow genuinely effortless.
Key Capabilities of Embedded Premium Finance Your Agency Will Benefit From
Real-time PFA generation
Applied Epic connects securely with the premium finance company to generate a PFA within the workflow. Preview financing terms and interest rates before sending the payment link, preserving your advisory role with the insured.
Multi-quote support
Agencies that present multiple coverage options to an insured can include them all in a single payment link. When the insured selects their preferred option, the chosen policy quote detail automatically populates a policy shell in Applied Epic.
Insured payment link
Send the insured a secure payment link directly from Applied Epic. The borrower reviews terms and signs the premium finance agreement electronically – no separate portal access needed for the policyholder.
Automatic write-back
Once the downpayment is made, payment confirmation, financing details, and basic policy information write back to Applied Epic automatically. Teams no longer rely on ad hoc communication or manual review to know when a policy can be issued.
Insured-led checkout
Premium financing appears as a payment option at checkout, with no agent intervention required. Agencies configure thresholds for when the option appears, and write-back and allocation are handled automatically.
Boosts Financing Volume
The embedded premium finance workflow can drive up to approximately 15% incremental financing volume simply by making financing available when the insured is ready to pay – turning premium costs that might otherwise delay a purchase into structured repayment plans that work for both the insured and the insurance carrier.
Why You Should Make the Switch to Premium Finance in Applied Epic
A common refrain heard from CSRs is, ‘but we already have a process that works.’ We hear this often, and it makes sense. Insurance agencies have built financing workflows over the years, and those workflows produce results. There are other reasons why you might be hesitant to make the switch, so let’s explore some common myths and why switching to an embedded workflow is the way to go.
Myth #1: "We already have premium finance relationships that work."
Those relationships stay in place. The embedded experience in Applied Epic connects to the same finance companies your team uses today, which include AFCO Direct, FIRST Insurance Funding, and Imperial PFS. You keep the relationships and lose the overhead.
Myth #2: "Financing is not a big enough part of our book to justify a change."
That may be because your current process makes it difficult to offer financing consistently. The insured-led checkout workflow puts financing in front of every eligible insured at the moment of payment – with no extra effort. The volume opportunity may be larger than your current numbers suggest.
Myth #3: "I don't want to disrupt my team with another new tool."
This is not a new tool. It is a new capability inside Applied Epic. No separate login, no new interface. The financing workflow is built directly into Applied Epic's New Payment from Client screen.
Myth #4: "We already have Embedded Premium Finance. Why do we need the AI piece?"
For policies still in the proposal stage that haven't been transacted in Epic, you'll need to manually enter the data in Epic or your PF portal to obtain a finance agreement. Now you can drag and drop a quote and get the finance agreement without any manual data entry.
Finance From Where You Work
Your team should not have to leave Applied Epic to offer financing. The quote is in Applied Epic. The financing should be too.
With embedded premium finance, one workflow replaces the portals, the rekeying, and the follow-up. AI handles the data, and Applied Epic handles the rest.
Ready to finance more premiums and grow more revenue with less work? Learn more about how the embedded workflow delivers an effortless financing experience that benefits your insurance agency and clients.
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Dave Stevens
Vice President, Growth and Customer Experience, Applied Pay
Dave Stevens is the Vice President, Growth and Customer Experience, Applied Pay. Prior to joining Applied Systems, Dave spent 4 years at Google as a Senior Strategy & Insights Manager for the Financial Services sector. His prior payments experience also includes 4 years at Boston Consulting Group and 3 years at Goldman Sachs. David holds an MBA from INSEAD.
