Blockchain in Insurance - Reading Assignment

[Bill]

1. Improved speed and efficiency of renewals, payments and claims processes.
2. Professional indemnity and property.
3. Insurer’s blockchain links to Citi’s CitiConnect API which can accept instructions from the Allianz blockchain and disperse payments.
4. Instant payment is not a requirement. Processing speed is much faster using blockchain compared to previous methods.

[davidnachman]

1. What issues are they aiming to solve with this blockchain system?
   They built this blockchain for the purpose of speeding up transaction and payout time as well as simplifying the process by cutting out the middle man who is not required for verification purposes any longer. It also helps speed up annual policy renewals.

2. What type of insurance are they targeting for this solution?
   They are targeting professional indemnity and property insurance policies in an international market.

3. How do they manage to disperse payments through the blockchain?
   The insurer’s blockchain links to Citi’s CitiConnect API which can accept instructions from the Allianz blockchain and disperse payments.

4. Why is the blockchains processing speed not an issue for this application?
   Blockchain is fine for the demands of a captive insurance operation where processing large amounts of complex data accurately is more important than raw speed.

[cme]

1.What issues are they aiming to solve with this blockchain system? A: Decentralized process optimization, worldwide insurance payment transfers, Trustless comunications replacing emails and excells.

2.What type of insurance are they targeting for this solution? A: professional indemnity and property

3.How do they manage to disperse payments through the blockchain? A: Calling Citi API.

4.Why is the blockchains processing speed not an issue for this application? A: The project values more having acurate calculations and results consensus of end data than ‘untrusted’ speed of processing. When compared 4 minutes to 4 months one can see huge time optimization of old processes already.

[MuadDib]

1. What issues are they aiming to solve with this blockchain system?
   Complex processes and time to claim resolvance.

2. What type of insurance are they targeting for this solution?
   Captive Insurance - annual policy renewals, premium payments, claim submission and settlement, all in a complex enviornment of intermediaries and tons of paperwork.

3. How do they manage to disperse payments through the blockchain?
   Using CitiBanks CITIconnect API, connecting the claim result or premium payment to the banking system and US payment to the insured.

4. Why is the blockchains processing speed not an issue for this application?
   A. Smartcontracts to execute their processes for them,
   B. Much simplified processes, since 80% of the case success was in process re-design.
   4 months to 4 minutes is great speed for captive insurance processes compared to absolute speed of simple transactions A>send X.XXX BTC to>B .

[alb4ch]

What issues are they aiming to solve with this blockchain system?

• Speed of international insurance transactions.
• Decrease time from start to policy, policy to premium and claim to settelment.
• Simplify transactions and cash transfer.
• Improve data quality and communication.

What type of insurance are they targeting for this solution?

• Captive insurance of companies.

How do they manage to disperse payments through the blockchain?

• Clients connect via API to the blockchain to share information.

Why is the blockchains processing speed not an issue for this application?

• Because in this kind of business quality of data is more important than speed as usually the processing times are of months.

[ProfessorHODL]

1. What issues are they aiming to solve with this blockchain system?

It will reduce the need for an intermediary and improve communication between parties.

2. What type of insurance are they targeting for this solution?

They are starting with professional indemnity and property insurance.

3. How do they manage to disperse payments through the blockchain?

The Allianz blockchain can connect to Citi’s API and then disperse payments.

4. Why is the blockchains processing speed not an issue for this application?

“It is fine for the demands of a captive insurance operation where processing large amounts of complex data accurately is more important than raw speed.”

In other words, having a process take minutes is fine when it used to take months.

[Anthony]

• What issues are they aiming to solve with this blockchain system?
  Policy renewals, pay premiums and make and pay for claims.
• What type of insurance are they targeting for this solution?
  Property and professional indemnity.
• How do they manage to disperse payments through the blockchain?
  They use Citi’s API to disperse payment by accepting the blockchain instructions.
• Why is the blockchains processing speed not an issue for this application?
  Traditionally, the process take weeks and months to do it. Therefore the pain point of slow processing speed is not a issue as the processing speed of the blockchain would be much faster.

[FaierPlay]

1. What issues are they aiming to solve with this blockchain system?
   The places in the business process where people get lost and that currently take a long time to process; policy renewals, pay premiums, and creation/payment of claims

2. What type of insurance are they targeting for this solution?
   Cross-boarder Property and professional indemnity

3. How do they manage to disperse payments through the blockchain?
   They use Citi’s API

4. Why is the blockchains processing speed not an issue for this application?
   The accurate storage and interpretation is more important that ultra-fast transactions. Compared to the traditionally slow process, it is still considered a massive improvement.

[Crofty]

1. Simplify process between large B2B partners or different international body’s withing the same organization where thrust verification (due diligence) takes to much time to settle
2. Professional liability insurance and property
3. They are using traditional API no use of crypto yet
4. Settlement between international bodys is inherently slow; a good example will be using email to communicate between different geographical offices (Imagine the noise and clutter of daily corporate emails) with something like hyper-ledger a consensus can be achieved on a settlement faster even if writing emails is not you thing or mastering the language the emails are being written in … therefore blockchain is much faster then the convoluted corporate communication ways of getting to the truth

[mattprime]

1. What issues are they aiming to solve with this blockchain system?
   Lowering complexity, costs and time needed for international insurance processes.

Decreasing the time from start to policy creation, renewals, policy premium upgrade and claim to settlement. Replacing the exchange of thousands of emails and massive data files with use of blockchain.

2. What type of insurance are they targeting for this solution?
   They are targeting two types of insurance policies

• professional indemnity and property
• for a captive insurance program with local subsidiaries in the US, China and Switzerland.

3. How do they manage to disperse payments through the blockchain?
   Allianz’s blockchain is connected to Citi’s CitiConnect API, which then disperse payments on behalf of instructions coming from blockchain.

4. Why is the blockchains processing speed not an issue for this application?

Processing large amounts of complex data accurately is more important than speed of monetary transactions. The transfer of information in international evironment is the bottleneck.

[Native_Loup]

• What issues are they aiming to solve with this blockchain system?
  Simplify and accelerate annual policy renewals, premium payments, claims submissions and settlements.

• What type of insurance are they targeting for this solution?
  Professional indemnity and property

• How do they manage to disperse payments through the blockchain?
  The company is not utilizing cryptocurrency but a captive group collects fees and disburses. There could be payment solutions utilizing Bitcoin or privacy coins.

• Why is the blockchains processing speed not an issue for this application?
  In this application, they are looking to speed up information transfer and not interested in financial transactions. Hyperledger is the perfect fit.

[MichaelGolpe]

1. The three common process flows in the captive insurance cycle – annual policy renewals, premium payments and claims submission and settlement.
2. Professional indemnity and property with local subsidiaries.
3. Allianz links to Citi’s API
4. Accuracy is more important than raw speed, in this case. Additionally, time is saved by the lessening of emails and spreadsheets.

[Tillo]

1. What issues are they aiming to solve with this blockchain system?
   Simplifying and decreasing time procedures, accelerate payments
   (annual policy renewals, premium payments and claims submission and settlement)

2. What type of insurance are they targeting for this solution?
   professional indemnity and property

3. How do they manage to disperse payments through the blockchain?
   Using an API connected with Citibank

4. Why is the blockchains processing speed not an issue for this application?
   Because to process a large and accurate amount of data it is more important that speed.

[tjourneyinge]

1. What issues are they aiming to solve with this blockchain system? They want to accelerate and simplify international insurance transactions, i.e. the regular transactions and cash transfer between fronting insurers and clients
2. What type of insurance are they targeting for this solution? Captive Insurance
3. How do they manage to disperse payments through the blockchain? Insurer’s blockchain links to Citi’s CitiConnect API which can accept instructions from the Allianz blockchain and disperse payments.
4. Why is the blockchains processing speed not an issue for this application? Because processing transactions take a long time to begin with. Thus, the accurate processing of large amounts of complex data is more important than raw speed.

[coltaalex]

1. Flow of to much information
2. professional indemnity and property
3. through distributed ledger environment, decreasing the time from start to policy, policy to premium and claim to settlement
4. they have to processes large amount of information, where the speed is not important, but the accuracy is

[Raffaele]

1. What issues are they aiming to solve with this blockchain system? Decreasing the time from start to policy, policy to premium and claim to settlement through a more efficient, trusted and trasparent process.
2. What type of insurance are they targeting for this solution? Professional indemnity and property .
3. How do they manage to disperse payments through the blockchain? The insurer’s blockchain links to Citi’s CitiConnect API which can accept instructions from the Allianz blockchain and disperse payments.
4. Why is the blockchains processing speed not an issue for this application? For the demands of a captive insurance operation where processing large amounts of complex, data accurately is more important than raw speed.

[paul1]

Hi Filip,
As much as the article makes sense, having worked in this type of industry (finance) over some years, i add the following comments.

1. This was more about getting in control of the processes between the ‘captive’ and indeed its subsidiaries concerning information flow. 2. Secondly the payment processing is indeed more about streamlining a likely previous cumbersome process. 3. Allianz were providing the underlying insurance cover - so indeed having the right processes is key to having a cost effective operation that the ‘captive’ was seeking.

All very interesting indeed and what i and multiple colleagues have been doing for some years without the need for BC in such solutions. So my point is this. I am skeptical that the use-case really needed BC. Because in traditional style it is using parties that already trust one another and have systems/processes that indeed have well built-in controls and checks. This is the insurance industry after all !! My inkling is that the real driver was more of being “seen to be BC aware” than actually needing such a solution in reality. This is in contrast to say the Shipping business where trust is lacking between some of the participants. Perhaps the project is more a redesign of processes (a good thing) an then BC “thrown in for good measure” ! Interested in your viewpoint - regard and great course just to say. Paul

[Gagnon]

1. What issues are they aiming to solve with this blockchain system? - decreasing time from start to policy, policy to premium and claim to settlement.
2. What type of insurance are they targeting for this solution? - Focuses on two types of insurance policies - professional indemnity and property.
3. How do they manage to disperse payments through the blockchain? - start with U.S. dollars and will eventually add other currencies and other markets.
4. Why is the blockchains processing speed not an issue for this application? - this is not an issue as existing system can take four months to process. Blockchains can finish this task in four minutes.

[Charles822]

Great answers as usual, I think, for 2), we can add that we are dealing with international insurance transactions.

[Valdis]

1. What issues are they aiming to solve with this blockchain system?
   They are trying to simplify the insurance process.
2. What type of insurance are they targeting for this solution?
   They are testing it with the professional indemnity and property insurance at the beginning.
3. How do they manage to disperse payments through the blockchain?
   They use Allianz blockchain to send insctructions to the Citi’s CitiConnect API.
4. Why is the blockchains processing speed not an issue for this application?
   The insurance claim processing does not have to be immediate. Unless there would be a new product ‘frequency trading insurance’…