A new blockchain solution can create significant efficiencies for insurers

When insurers integrate customer data, they can effectively lower costs, save time and improve data quality. Historically, this has been a complex challenge, but with the introduction of smart technologies, authentic data integration can now be simplified.

For example, Accenture and Generali Employee Benefits (GEB) recently debuted a first-of-its-kind blockchain solution for the employee benefits industry. Blockchain technology is able to create a more connected ecosystem among stakeholders. This establishes a reliable, integrated channel to exchange information. It is specifically relevant to the insurance industry, as blockchain’s capabilities streamline manual insurance processes.

In the case of GEB, it means that participants in the reinsurance process for captive or pooling services are able to access the same data, in real-time, across the business. Processing errors are reduced through techniques such as automated reconciliation and smart contracts, which are executed online and visible to all users of the blockchain.

Generali’s employee benefits model offers customers around the world a comprehensive range of insurance services such as life, short- and long-term disability cover, and accident and healthcare insurance. This mandate is fulfilled with reinsurance from Generali to captive or pooling services.

This kind of offering is attractive to multinational corporations that need to centrally manage their insurance scheme and financials across a range of departments and geographies.

Distributed ledger technology has been on the radar of global insurance providers for the past few years. In late 2016, B3i, a collaborative initiative of 15 global insurers and reinsurers came together to explore and test the potential of blockchain in the industry. In 2018, two global customers of the Generali Group – one of which is Syngenta, a leading agriculture company – and local insurers in Spain, Switzerland and Serbia successfully demonstrated a prototype of this particular solution.

The success of the prototype, and the subsequent rollout within GEB, illustrate the potential for blockchain to genuinely and sustainably shift the insurance market towards greater integration and efficiency.

Get in touch if you would like to learn more about the solution or discuss the potential role of blockchain within your business.

For more information on GEB’s blockchain project you can also visit this page.