iPipeline and FIDx launch ix Express

iPipeline and Fiduciary Exchange LLC, or FIDx, said April 21 they launched IX Express, a new annuity distribution platform for small and mid-market firms. (ipipeline.com) The product’s full name is Insurance Exchange Express. iPipeline and FIDx said it is a jointly developed, out-of-the-box offering for broker-dealers and financial institutions that have had less access to digital annuity tools than larger firms. (ipipeline.com) IX Express combines FIDx’s Insurance Exchange with iPipeline’s AFFIRM for Annuities, which the companies said creates one workflow for annuity sales and processing instead of separate systems. (ipipeline.com 1) (ipipeline.com 2) iPipeline said the standardized setup cuts implementation from the six to 12 months common in traditional deployments to just weeks. The company said the platform is meant to reduce disconnected workflows and new-business processing errors. (ipipeline.com) Annuities are insurance contracts that turn savings into retirement income, but selling them often still involves paper forms, manual checks, and back-office rework. IX Express is aimed at firms that want digital processing without building a custom integration from scratch. (ipipeline.com) The companies tied the launch to a broader shift by insurers toward digital-only new-business submission. iPipeline said some carriers have limited or withdrawn access for firms that still rely on paper-based processes. (ipipeline.com) That gives carriers a second reason to care about the launch. iPipeline said IX Express can lower not-in-good-order rates, trim processing costs, and open distribution in segments that were previously harder to serve. (ipipeline.com) The release also builds on a partnership the companies expanded in September 2024. At that point, they said they were integrating AFFIRM for Annuities more deeply with FIDx’s Insurance Exchange to help advisors research, open, and manage annuity business digitally. (ipipeline.com) FIDx’s own news page says financial professionals have used its platform for more than $1 billion in new annuity contracts, with $50 billion in annuity contracts actively managed on the platform, giving a sense of the network IX Express plugs into. (fidx.io) The pitch now is speed and standardization. Instead of reserving integrated annuity infrastructure for the largest distributors, iPipeline and FIDx are packaging it for firms that can deploy in weeks rather than wait most of a year. (ipipeline.com)