Premium volume in the global life insurance and pensions industry increased in 2012 after decreasing by in 2011. The growth was mainly driven by North America and Asia Pacific, with considerable differences across individual countries. Life insurance firms are implementing newer technologies to better understand their customers’ needs, provide the customer a seamless experience across distribution channels, and reduce operational costs. Trends in 2013 include: increased use of Software-as-a-Service; increased interest in BPM on the cloud; and leveraging big data and analytics-based solutions.