Eighteen companies have joined the The Institutes RiskBlock Alliance, which seeks to leverage the blockchain to lower industry transaction costs while increasing the speed and security of data transfers among customers, industry stakeholders, and third parties.
The Institutes launched the consortium in 2017. Initial members represent the property-casualty industry sector. In partnership with LIMRA, the RiskBlock Alliance said in a statement that it will expand to the life, annuity, and retirement sectors later this year.
Current RiskBlock Alliance members include insurers, brokerages, and reinsurers serving customers in the United States and abroad, including:
American Agricultural Insurance Company
American Family Insurance
Chubb
Erie Insurance
Farmers Insurance
The Hanover Insurance Group
Horace Mann Educators Corporation
Liberty Mutual Insurance
Marsh
Munich Reinsurance America, Inc.
Nationwide Insurance
Ohio Mutual Insurance Group
Penn National Insurance
RCM&D
RenaissanceRe
State Automobile Mutual Insurance Company
United Educators
USAA
"We've been tracking the potential of blockchain technology for years, so it's incredibly exciting to announce our first wave of members," said the executive director of the RiskBlock Alliance, Christopher McDaniel. "With the support of this broad range of industry partners, the RiskBlock Alliance will shepherd collaborative blockchain advancement in the insurance and risk management field, which will have a widespread impact on our industry and consumers alike."
Upon its inception, the RiskBlock Alliance began developing multiple blockchain use cases within a scalable enterprise-level architecture. The first use case, a tool designed to establish proof of insurance, was delivered in partnership with Nationwide in December 2017. RiskBlock Alliance members are currently evaluating this tool for wider roll out.
The RiskBlock Alliance held its semi-annual in-person working meeting in January 2018 in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Participants finalized requirements for additional existing use cases focused on first notice of loss, subrogation and parametric insurance. The RiskBlock Alliance said that it plans to bring each to some form of production in early 2018. The members also brainstormed on new use cases, which will be prioritized and brought to production in late 2018, the RiskBlock Alliance added.
Other operational areas primed for blockchain disruption include claims processing, negotiation and settlement, investigation, and regulatory reporting.
Learn more: