Manulife drops nicotine testing in bid to speed up insurance application process

Manulife Financial Corp. is relying on new technology to snuff out its top source of life-insurance fraud: smokers who say they’re tobacco-free. The Toronto-based insurer is eliminating nicotine testing for many life-insurance customers, saying its data-analysis capabilities have advanced to the point where it can identify when smokers have lied on their application forms.