AIA deploys blockchain-backed bancassurance network

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AIA Hong Kong, a local subsidiary of pan-Asian life insurer AIA Group Limited, has announced it has developed and deployed a blockchain-enabled bancassurance network.
 

The platform, a first for the Hong Kong SAR, will allow AIA and its bank partners to share policy data and documentation in real-time.

“This will reduce the time needed to process insurance applications for customers and increase transparency throughout the entire business process,” AIA said in a release.

Bancassurance is a formal arrangement between an insurer and a bank, whereby insurers are authorised to sell their products through the bank’s service network. The arrangement allows insurers to utilise a bank’s brick and mortar branches and service staff.

AIA said the blockchain platform, based on the Linux Hyperledger Fabric, will process transactions with less friction and improve the insurer’s operational efficiency “through a secure, shared ledger”.

Chief technology and operations officer for AIA Hong Kong & Macau, Ip Man Kit, said the technology will enable AIA to provide faster service with increased security and transparency. 

“As ‘The Real Life Company’, we will continue to embrace and harness value-added technology across our business to help people live longer, healthier and better lives, and strive to set new industry standards for ease of doing business with our customers,” Ip said.

AIA has proved a keen promoter of blockchain-backed innovations in insurtech. In 2016, the company launched its own Blockchain Challenge, touted as the “first global blockchain challenge focused around insurtech”, which invited start-up teams to develop solutions based on the distributed ledger.

Earlier this year, AIA joined the B3i cooperative, an international insurance consortium tasked with exploring potential use cases for blockchain within the industry.