Major insurance firm the People's Insurance Company of China (PICC) will apply blockchain technology to its operations via a new partnership, according to a September 1 press release. PICC has partnered with blockchain platform VeChain, and a global quality assurance and risk management company DNV GL to make their business more time and cost efficient. Additionally, the new partnership intends to improve fraud prevention, Know your Customer (KYC) compliance, as well as the claims experience. In the announcement, PICC says that blockchain technology will bring digital transformation to the insurance industry, which will reportedly create an "instant compensation" for companies …

U.K. insurance market leader Lloyd’s of London will insure a crypto custody platform by U.S.-based custodial firm Kingdom Trust, according to a press release published August 28. Founded in 1686, Lloyd’s of London is a British insurance firm that is active in over 200 countries. The company reportedly paid claims in the amount of £68 billion ($87 billion) between 2011 and 2016. Kingdom Trust, which serves over 100,000 customers and has $12 billion in assets under custody, is the reportedly the “first” regulated financial institution to offer qualified custody for digital asset investments. Kingdom Trust provides digital currency storage services …

Privately held insurance advisory American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS) has introduced its blockchain-based insurance database and reporting tool, according to an announcement video posted August 15. The platform, dubbed Insurance Data Link (openIDL), is based on IBM's enterprise blockchain solution, using Hyperledger Fabric. The platform intends to reduce “burdensome” statistical reporting processes, as well as cut costs and data processing time for insurance carriers. According to a report accompanying the announcement, openIDL is operating the “first secure, open blockchain platform that enables the efficient and permissioned-based collection of statistical data on behalf of insurance carriers, regulators and other participating …

Big-name insurers such as AIG, Allianz, Chubb, and XL Group are increasingly tailoring coverage options to protect businesses in the crypto space, Bloomberg reports July 19. Aon, a major insurance broker that claims to occupy 50 percent of the crypto-insurance market, told Bloomberg the firm is seeing more crypto-specific protections catering to the new industry. Another broker, Marsh & McLennan, said that 2018 has been “brisk” for crypto-insurers, revealing that Marsh has now formed its first-ever team dedicated to broker policies for blockchain startups. Bloomberg’s sources say that premiums for crypto-related firms can tally to over fivefold the average coverage …

iXledger, a company founded in early 2017 in London, U.K., has launched Blockchain Insurance, a platform that enables blockchain companies to obtain business insurance quotes based on a risk assessment. The platform presents exposures in metrics relevant to the underwriters, insurers and reinsurers. The company says that the team has launched the platform in partnership with experts in London's insurance markets. It is specifically tailored to protect blockchain businesses from risks associated with legal threats, financial exposure, cyber risk and crime. The iXledger platform provides a number of features that support brokers and underwriters through the insurance process. The risk …

German insurance group Allianz and Deutsche Bank have partnered with Berlin-based car exchange Auto1 to offer auto financing using blockchain technology, Cointelegraph auf Deutsch reported today, June 7. The three partners have created a new company called “Auto1 Fintech” of which they together own more than 50 percent. The new venture will offer insurance products and loan refinancing for car dealerships that buy Auto1’s vehicles, said co-CEO Hakan Koc In an interview with Bloomberg. Auto1, which is backed by SoftBank Group Corp., is an online exchange for used cars that buys them from individuals and then resells them to dealerships. …

China’s ZhongAn Tech is planning to use blockchain technology to cut risk and costs in healthcare insurance, local news outlet the South China Morning Post reported May 29. ZhongAn, the technology incubator for ZhongAn Online Property & Casualty Insurance, was founded in 2013 by Jack Ma, the chairman of Alibaba Group, Pony Ma Huateng, chairman at Tencent Holdings, and Peter Ma Mingzhe, chairman at Ping An Insurance. Jack Ma had previously referred to blockchain’s potential for addressing privacy and security issues across all industry sectors, although noting that he thinks Bitcoin (BTC) is a bubble. ZhongAn Online tech unit chief …

Transport and logistics company AP Moller-Maersk (a.k.a. Maersk) has begun using blockchain platform Insurwave for maritime insurance, Seatrade Maritime News reports Friday, May 25. Developed by EY and Guardtime, Insurwave uses distributed ledger technology from cloud platform Microsoft Azure and follows global insurance standards. At the beginning of May, Microsoft Azure had announced the release of its blockchain app creation service, Azure Blockchain Workbench. In the first year, Maersk will use Insurwave to manage 1,000 vessels and support over 500,000 digital ledger transactions. Lars Henneberg, the head of risk and insurance at Maersk, told Seatrade Maritime News that since, “marine …

A new paper explores how Bitcoin could transform the way we manage personal life insurance. Namely, the blockchain could provide a global, secure and public record of personal health information. In a 51-page report, the research group Long Finance described a range of potential areas where the blockchain could come in handy in the insurance sector. The London-based initiative “holds hope” that these applications could aid consumers. From August to November, the Z/Yen Group asked financial service professionals, cryptography experts, and regulators about the blockchain's “potential relevance” to insurance. Their insights fill the report. The paper was co-authored by Professor …