Building the Standards That Will Power the Next Decade of Annuity Connectivity
Live Carriers. Modern Standards. No XML.
This year, a group of forward-looking carriers will onboard to Zinnia in-force servicing technology, powered by Zinnia Live, using new IRI-approved REST/JSON messaging standards — bypassing legacy XML entirely. That's not a pilot concept. That's a deployment timeline. And it's happening because Zinnia spent the last year helping build the standard that the industry has adopted.
The annuity industry is in the middle of a consequential infrastructure shift. The messaging standards that govern how data moves between carriers, distributors, and technology platforms — the plumbing behind every transaction — are being rebuilt from the ground up. The decisions being made right now will shape how the industry operates for decades.
Zinnia isn't watching from the sidelines. We hold a seat on the IRI Messaging Standards Governance Committee. We're running working sessions alongside carrier partners and DTCC. We contributed the Zinnia Live API structures that are shaping the standards themselves. That's not participation — that's co-authorship.
Here's what that means, how we got here, and why it matters for the carriers and distributors navigating this transition.
The Challenge
For years, the annuity industry relied on SOAP-based XML messaging to move transaction data — withdrawals, policy status updates, applications, claims. It worked, but it was aging infrastructure: rigid, fragmented, and increasingly misaligned with the modern API-driven ecosystem that the rest of financial services had already moved toward.
Compounding the problem was a lack of consensus. ACORD, DTCC, and other standards bodies each maintained their own messaging formats. ACORD standards were available only to members. DTCC had its own proprietary model. The result: carriers, distributors, and platforms often couldn't speak the same language, creating friction at every point in the transaction lifecycle — from new business submission through in-force servicing.
The cost of that fragmentation isn't abstract. It slows onboarding, increases operational complexity, and creates compounding inefficiencies every time data moves between systems.
A New Standard Is Taking Shape
IRI has stepped into this gap with a significant initiative: building open, REST/JSON-based messaging standards for the annuity industry — available to any firm, regardless of IRI membership status. This is a meaningful departure from prior models and reflects a broader industry consensus that the infrastructure needs to be shared.
The full scope is substantial.
IRI's working groups are currently developing standardized message formats across the full transaction lifecycle:
Withdrawals & Systematic Withdrawals
Standardized processing for all withdrawal types, reducing manual intervention and errors.
Beneficiary Transactions
Unified formats for beneficiary changes, designations, and updates across carriers.
Application & Activity Status
Real-time visibility into application progress and policy activity.
Claims Processing
Streamlined claims submission and status tracking through common standards.
Rate Lock & Paperless Replacements
Modern workflows for rate guarantees and carrier-to-carrier transfers.
The industry is aligning behind it. When the infrastructure clearinghouse for financial transactions adopts your standard, the rest of the industry takes notice.
“When the infrastructure clearinghouse for financial transactions adopts your standard, the rest of the industry takes notice.”
Why This Matters for the Industry
Standards shape winners.
The firms that help define technical standards don't just benefit from them — they build to them earlier, influence how they're scoped, and establish credibility with the carrier and distributor community evaluating long-term partners.
The XML-to-REST migration is real and accelerating.
The 2028 DTCC timeline isn't soft. Carriers are making decisions now about which platforms and connectivity models they'll build toward. Firms with existing REST/JSON infrastructure — and the governance involvement to prove it — are meaningfully differentiated.
Open standards raise the floor for everyone.
IRI's decision to make these standards available regardless of membership status is good for the industry. Smaller carriers and distributors won't have to build proprietary connections. The operational complexity that has historically slowed technology adoption has a clear path toward resolution.
Zinnia Leads At Every Level
Zinnia's involvement in the IRI standards effort is not passive membership. We are active participants at every level of governance and execution.
Governance Committee
Zinnia holds a seat on the IRI Messaging Standards Governance Committee — a small, select group of technical representatives with final approval authority over new messaging standards. The standards don't move forward without this committee's sign-off.
Strategy & Implementation Committee
Zinnia participates in the oversight body that sets direction and prioritizes what gets built across all capability-specific working groups.
Working Groups
Zinnia is actively participating in the majority of capability-specific subcommittees — withdrawals, claims, beneficiary transactions, application status — collaborating directly with IRI member firms to develop the actual message structures.
In several of these working groups, Zinnia has played a direct role: sharing existing Zinnia Live API structures, running working sessions alongside carrier partners and DTCC, and helping define the message formats IRI is now advancing toward adoption.
“The firms that invest in building shared infrastructure earn the right to shape how it works — and the trust of the clients who depend on it.”
Looking Ahead
Zinnia's involvement in the IRI standards effort reflects a straightforward conviction: the firms that invest in building shared infrastructure earn the right to shape how it works — and the trust of the clients who depend on it.
We'll continue to be at the table. And we'll continue to share what we're building.
Ready to see Zinnia Live in action?
If you're a carrier or distributor evaluating your connectivity strategy ahead of the REST/JSON transition, we'd like to talk. Zinnia Live is live, the standard is set, and onboarding is open.