The potential for blockchain technology to disrupt the insurance industry and change the way we share data, process claims and prevent fraud is intriguing, but we’re still in the very early days of its exploration and implementation—on the radar of innovative insurance industry pioneers but not close to widescale adoption.
Now is the time for the insurance industry to actively work with start-ups, regulators and industry experts to figure out the best ways to navigate blockchain’s potential challenges to the realities of the insurance industry. Individual insurance companies should begin testing new ways of utilizing blockchain with internal processes to gain learning to leverage as the technology matures.
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is more than a buzzword. I believe it has wide-reaching implications that will impact the insurance industry, as well as many other businesses and business sectors. It is a distributed, peer-to-peer ledger of records called blocks that is virtually incorruptible.
Every block links to a previous block and has a time and date stamp. It is self-managed and does not require coordination from an intermediary.How can blockchain disrupt the insurance industry?
Experts predict several areas where blockchain could play a disrupting force within the insurance industry. Since blockchain technology is roughly as mature today as the World Wide Web was in 1996, these are primarily hypotheses at this point; however, it’s very clear that blockchain adoption will lead to big changes and will have a significant impact.
Here are the most likely impacts blockchain will have on the insurance industry:Improve trustThere’s a crisis of trust in the financial services industry. Even though the large banks are the focal point, the erosion of trust impacts all businesses.
Lack of trust, high costs and inefficiency of the insurance industry all play a part in the extraordinary high levels of underinsurance. For example, only 17% of California households carry earthquake insurance even though the likelihood of experiencing losses from an earthquake are high.
Blockchain facilitates building trust of consumers because it provides transparency.... continue to page 2 of this Forbes article here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2017/10/31/blockchain-implications-every-insurance-company-...
Now is the time for the insurance industry to actively work with start-ups, regulators and industry experts to figure out the best ways to navigate blockchain’s potential challenges to the realities of the insurance industry. Individual insurance companies should begin testing new ways of utilizing blockchain with internal processes to gain learning to leverage as the technology matures.
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is more than a buzzword. I believe it has wide-reaching implications that will impact the insurance industry, as well as many other businesses and business sectors. It is a distributed, peer-to-peer ledger of records called blocks that is virtually incorruptible.
Every block links to a previous block and has a time and date stamp. It is self-managed and does not require coordination from an intermediary.How can blockchain disrupt the insurance industry?
Experts predict several areas where blockchain could play a disrupting force within the insurance industry. Since blockchain technology is roughly as mature today as the World Wide Web was in 1996, these are primarily hypotheses at this point; however, it’s very clear that blockchain adoption will lead to big changes and will have a significant impact.
Here are the most likely impacts blockchain will have on the insurance industry:Improve trustThere’s a crisis of trust in the financial services industry. Even though the large banks are the focal point, the erosion of trust impacts all businesses.
Lack of trust, high costs and inefficiency of the insurance industry all play a part in the extraordinary high levels of underinsurance. For example, only 17% of California households carry earthquake insurance even though the likelihood of experiencing losses from an earthquake are high.
Blockchain facilitates building trust of consumers because it provides transparency.... continue to page 2 of this Forbes article here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2017/10/31/blockchain-implications-every-insurance-company-...
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Francisco Gimeno - BC Analyst Insurance will be one of the first sectors to be full Blockchain or mixed Blockchain and actual use. The time of dialogue and discussion is now.