Managing Insurance with a Blockchain

Why use the architecture of Blockchain to manage insurance?   A well told piece makes the case.  Said to be the first significant application in insurance.

A well stated insurance application, with link to an excellent tech white paper.  Insurance is often a leader in digital applications and also in analytics, since insurance grew out of direct statistical methods, both in its management and measurement.

ANZ and IBM build insurance management blockchain for New Zealand   By Kyt Dotson in SiliconAngle

The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group along with IBM Corp. and banking company Suncorp New Zealand Ltd. today announced the development of blockchain distributed ledger technology aimed at easing payments and reconciliation in the insurance industry.

Blockchain technology is used across numerous industries as a way to secure distributed data in a decentralized manner that also makes it difficult to tamper with. Each transaction sent through the blockchain is cryptographically secured in a ledger that is shared between multiple parties and transactions are not added until all members agree.

After the transaction is added, each subsequent transaction strengthens that security. The blockchain also becomes a historical record of all past transactions that can be audited by third parties and regulators to ensure legal compliance or investigate data patterns.

A press release from IBM and ANZ claimed that this is the first insurance industry-related blockchain of its kind released in New Zealand. .... " 

White paper on the effort:

Distributed Ledger Technology for Reconciliation between Insurance Companies and Brokers.

ANZ Bank New Zealand Limited’s (‘ANZ’) Proof of Concept demonstrates how distributed ledger technology (‘DLT’) can solve inefficiencies in the reconciliation of bordereau statements, which detail the insurance policies that brokers manage, and the corresponding payments to insurance companies. DLT can be used to create a ‘single source of truth’ for brokers and insurance companies, removing the need for reconciliations in the process and providing greater visibility for more informed management decisions ... "