Blockchain is much more than the database ledger technology that powers bitcoin. It is an innovative technology that will open new business opportunities, reduce transaction costs, and improve trust, security and efficiency of existing processes. It has the potential to disrupt and transform even, and perhaps especially, industries that have been traditionally resistant to change. Insurance is an excellent example of an industry that could be significantly transformed by blockchain.
Visionary business leaders are forging new use cases for blockchain technology and entrepreneurs are building “insurtech” companies that are pioneering new products and addressing new markets. To give you a glimpse into the future of insurance, we have profiled 3 examples of exciting startups looking to gain velocity in a traditionally slow moving space. Combating insurance fraud via digital provenance Globally, insurance companies lose over $80B USD to fraud every year. One of the biggest challenges faced by insurance companies in combating fraud is that adjusters primarily rely on physical processes to validate claim information such as item authenticity, ownership, history etc.
That can be manipulated by fraudsters. The encrypted and immutable nature of blockchain transactions, coupled with its extraordinarily strong provenance capability and transparency of the transaction record, presents an opportunity to create an authoritative digital record or ‘fingerprint’ of real-world items and policies and claims.
These unique digital records can be used to authenticate and track physical items of value throughout their entire life while making it extraordinarily difficult for criminals to defraud the system. One young start-up exploring this use case is UK-based Everledger.