The finance industry has been dramatically changed by the blockchain technology since 2009. In September 2016 Reuters reported that according to IBM survey of 200 banks, 15% of top global banks plan to launch full-scale commercial blockchain products in 2017 and further, 65% of these banks are expected to develop blockchain projects within three years.
The most widely-spread and comprehensible definition of “blockchain” is an online database that can store anything of value – money, titles, music, intellectual property - in a secure and private manner. The Economist called the blockchain “The Trust Machine” because the “the technology behind bitcoin could transform how the economy works” (The Economist, October 31st, 2015, The Trust Machine)
Read More: The Trust Machine
Harvard Business Review called the blockchain “...the first native digital medium of value, just as the internet was the first native digital medium for information. And this has big implications in business and the corporation” (HBR, May 10th, 2016, The Impact of the blockchain Goes Beyond Financial Services)
However, the impact of the blockchain goes well beyond the finance services industry. Some of the biggest names in the insurance industry like Aegon, Allianz, Munich Re, Swiss Re and Zurich have launched the blockchain Insurance Industry Initiative B3i to explore the potential of distributed ledger technologies to better serve clients through faster, more convenient and secure services.
According to experts and insurance companies, the blockchain can contribute to a consistent, automatic contract execution environment, where transactions and contracts are stored on a shared ledger. In this manner the administrative workload of multiple stakeholders to ensure contract consistency and execution will be reduced.
According to McKinsey&Company's Report published in January, 2017: "In insurance blockchains have potential for impact accross the entire value chain". The research shows that blockchain solutions in the industry are expected to reach full potential in the next five years although investments in blockchain has already started to gain momentum.
Although the implementation of blockchain technology in the industry is in its early days, one example which is already in the works, is a pilot project launched by Allianz - a smart contract solution aiming to automate catastrophe swap transactions with a significant reduction in placement time.
Insurance companies are very ambitious about applying the blockchain technology internally, so that paper or manual processes are eliminated. More importantly, it is expected that such development will benefit a cross-industry collaboration in the fight against fraud. Since the blockchain technology shows most of its potential only if it’s applied in a network of peers, insurance companies see a huge benefit for the industry in collaboration.
The blockchain Insurance Industry consortia B3i will allow insurers to get a better insight into the applicability of the blockchain technology in the insurance market and facilitate the transition from individual company use cases to viable solutions across the entire insurance value chain. According to McKinsey&Co's January 2017 report, B3i develop "Proofs of Cencept using distributed ledger solutions to replace some part of the traditional infrastructure to improve speed and reduce risk".
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