Blockchain has been labelled the “gatekeeper in the emerging trust economy.”
A pilot project developed between American International Group, IBM and Standard Chartered Bank has shown that the distributed ledger technology can be used to make a multinational ‘smart contract’ which would help increase trust in complex insurance products.
The three used blockchain to convert a multinational policy penned in the UK, and three local policies in America, Kenya and Singapore. It allowed everyone a real-time view of the data and documentation.
Rob Schimek, CEO of Commercial, AIG said: “Our pilot proves blockchain has a powerful role to play in the future of insurance. Any technology, including blockchain, that can increase trust and transparency for an industry whose pillars are built on that, should be fully explored. We’re excited to be delivering innovation that matters to our clients – and co-developing key components of this new technology together.”
And blockchain has potential far beyond the financial industry. The United Nations World Food Programme is harnessing it to eliminate hunger. While one startup in San Francisco is applying it to the food and agriculture business.
