Marsh, one of the insurance industry’s biggest brokers has teamed up with IBM to develop the first commercial blockchain proof of insurance solution. According to a press release, Monday, the commercial insurance solution was built on the open source Hyperledger Fabric technology and IBM Blockchain Platform. It was developed with input from ACORD, the standards-setting body for the insurance industry and customer feedback from supply chain group ISN, which was the first Marsh client to pilot the solution.
Through the use of blockchain technology, Marsh said it is fundamentally transforming the complex, manual certificate of insurance process to become streamlined and transparent. This will allow clients to hire contractors and transfer risk more efficiently while increasing coverage certainty, said the company in a statement.
“Marsh sees great opportunity in leveraging blockchain technology to better serve our clients by maximizing efficiency and creating new opportunities in the insurance value chain,” said Sastry Durvasula, Chief Digital Officer and Chief Data & Analytics Office at Marsh in the statement. “We believe strategic engagements such as this one with IBM, ACORD, and ISN will help accelerate the adoption of further blockchain applications benefiting our clients across industries.”
Since proof of insurance is a key business requirement in many industries, the collaborators said this blockchain solution opens the door to creating a network of networks to provide verification on a much broader scale.
“Vastly simplifying the process for providing proof of insurance is a key enabler of business,” said Sandip Patel, IBM’s general manager – insurance industry, in the statement. “IBM is committed to connecting emerging blockchain networks to facilitate the next generation economy. This is an ideal example of how blockchain can be used on a much broader scale to drive real business results,”
Currently in pilot phase with ISN, Marsh’s new blockchain network is expected to go into production later this year.
“The insurance industry has been dependent on paper certificates of insurance, manually populated by an insurance agent,” said Brett Parker, technical insurance lead, ISN, in a statement. “By digitizing the policy information, we can streamline the process saving our customers time to focus on their core competencies.”
Bill Pieroni, president and CEO of ACORD, added: “This blockchain solution is key to evolving standards, enhancing data leverage, and enabling state-of-the-market technology to better integrate ACORD members and foster innovation.”
