Melbourne-based Instra Corporation, a corporate domain name retailer, has launched the .insurance domain name, billed as offering a more secure location online for insurance companies.
The domain space “promises enhanced security for tens of thousands of insurance companies around the world, providing they can clear the authentication process that shows they are qualified and regulated members of the global insurance community,” Instra said in a statement last month.
The .insurance initiative follows the success of the .bank domain, launched in 2015, which has already seen the majority of banks in the US and more than 500 banks in Europe apply.
At a consumer level, the .insurance development will help protect insurance customers from fake insurance websites designed for data theft, Instra said.
Only verified members of the global insurance community are eligible to register .insurance domain names. Those eligible include:
• Insurance companies regulated by a government authority (eg licensed, approved and certified);
• Licensed insurance agents/agencies, brokers/brokerages or other equivalents (eg intermediaries, representatives) regulated by a government authority;
• Associations whose members are primarily comprised of entities or individuals identified above in 1 and 2;
• Groups of associations whose members are primarily comprised of associates identified above in 1 and 2;
• Service providers that are principally owned by or predominately supporting regulated entities identified above in 1 and 2; and
• Government regulators of insurance companies, agents/agencies, brokers/brokerages or other equivalents or organizations whose members are primarily comprised of such government regulators.