Access America Partners with Standard & Poor's

RICHMOND, Va., June 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Access America has partnered with Standard & Poor's (S&P) Risk Solutions to incorporate S&P's Credit Risk Tracker as a new, more advanced tool in its effort to obtain more accurate risk information on travel supplier companies. Access America and its Underwriting Department will use Credit Risk Tracker to analyze public and non-public financial data from companies on or being considered for the Covered Supplier List of the company's Access America Travel Insurance products. Access America travel insurance policies cover customers for the supplier default benefit when their travel supplier is included on the Covered Supplier List.

Credit Risk Tracker is a scoring model that produces a forward-looking, one year probability of default (PD) predictor and establishes a new standard for evaluating risk within the hard-to-benchmark category of privately-held companies. Credit Risk Tracker helps underwriters expedite underwriting decisions and reduces the time and cost required for credit reviews. It also improves the transparency and efficiency of risk management.

Mondial Assistance Chief Underwriting Officer David Bloom says S&P's Credit Risk Tracker will help make underwriting reviews faster, fairer and simpler. "It is our hope that using Credit Risk Tracker will provide us with a more advanced tool to objectively analyze the data we require for effective risk management of the travel supplier industry," said Bloom.

S&P's Managing Director and Global Head of Risk Solutions David Samuels adds, "Access America's use of Credit Risk Tracker demonstrates their commitment to adopting industry best practices in the area of credit analysis. Now more than ever, it's critical to implement a process for assessing credit worthiness and we are pleased that Access America has selected Standard & Poor's Risk Solutions and our leading solution, Credit Risk Tracker, for their risk management program."

Standard & Poor's, a subsidiary of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), is the world's foremost provider of independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data. With offices in 23 countries and markets, Standard & Poor's is an essential part of the world's financial infrastructure and has played a leading role for nearly 150 years in providing investors with the independent benchmarks they need

to feel more confident about their investment and financial decisions. For more information, visit http://www.standardandpoors.com.

Mondial Assistance is a global leader in specialty insurance and emergency assistance services. Four percent of the world's population, or about 250 million people, are served by Mondial Assistance businesses around the globe. In the United States, Mondial Assistance is a brand name of World Access Service Corp., which is best known for its Access America(R) brand of travel insurance and assistance services. As one of 29 business units, the U.S. operation serves major travel suppliers, health insurers, credit card, and entertainment companies with insurance products, international travel assistance, and concierge services. Mondial Assistance is part of the Allianz (NYSE: AZ) group of companies. For more information please visit: www.mondialUSA.com.

SOURCE Mondial Assistance