Nationwide Commercial Digital Direct now available to small business owners in three new states

Program allows 30 small business types, including photographers, business consultants and beauty salons, to buy insurance online at their convenience

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Nationwide

Mar 28, 2019, 10:15 ET

COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Small business owners in Arkansas, Connecticut and Indiana can now buy business insurance online with 24-hour access to full-service, end-to-end digital capabilities across the entire insurance lifecycle.

Nationwide's Commercial Digital Direct insurance platform is designed to address the specific needs of 30 types of businesses with fewer than five employees. The broad range of business types served means a customized experience that makes it fast and easy to buy the right coverage. The business types include office (such as business consultants and legal practices), service (like beauty/barber salons and photographers) and retail (such as coffee shops and clothing stores).

These small business owners tend to value guidance and validation, be comfortable with online self-service insurance shopping and policy management and seek out convenience and options that allow them to maintain low overhead costs. Commercial Digital Direct first became available to businesses in Illinois in 2018, and Nationwide will expand the service to businesses in additional states throughout 2019.

"Small business owners have so much on their plate, so Nationwide wants to help them simplify the process of getting the coverage they need to protect their livelihood," said Tony Fenton, vice president of Nationwide's Underwriting, Product & New Product Development. "Nationwide's innovative Commercial Digital Direct gives them a fast, easy, online experience to complete a commercial policy purchase within minutes. We've streamlined the process to just a few clicks using automated underwriting criteria and the use of pre-filled data options."

The experience is customized to each business segment and available via mobile or desktop access. Nationwide streamlined the application by minimizing the number of questions required for users to complete the process. In addition, the new offering digitally enables self-service transactions, including:

Payment processing
Policy information lookup
Policy document lookup
Requests for certificates of insurance

"This is the first time an insurer has been able to sell and service commercial insurance for these specific types of businesses through an entirely digital experience," said Tammy Craig, senior vice president of Nationwide's Commercial and Agency IT. "It's fast, easy and exclusively online."

Coupled with Nationwide's Business Solutions Center, Commercial Digital Direct provides 24-access to a variety of resources to business owners.

"Nationwide's Business Solutions Center provides resources to assist business owners navigate the challenges of starting, growing and running a business," Fenton said. "Helping those business owners protect what's most important to them and plan for a secure financial future is at the core of what we do."

For more information, visit Nationwide Commercial Digital Direct and watch this video.

About Nationwide
Nationwide, a Fortune 100 company based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the United States. Nationwide is rated A+ by both A.M. Best and Standard & Poor's. An industry leader in driving customer-focused innovation, Nationwide provides a full range of insurance and financial services products including auto, business, homeowners, farm and life insurance; public and private sector retirement plans, annuities and mutual funds; excess & surplus, specialty and surety; pet, motorcycle and boat insurance. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Contact:
David Gilligan
614-249-6349
[email protected]

SOURCE Nationwide