Evaluation of Potential Use Cases for Blockchain in the Insurance Industry

Master's Thesis from the year 2020 in the subject Economics - Finance, grade: 1,3, International School of Management, Campus Munich, language: English, abstract: Blockchain is considered to be a breakthrough technology with many strengths and opportunities, but also weaknesses and threats for all industries around the globe. It has the potential to revolutionize many sectors, but it is not a universal remedy and does not replace every single traditional technology. Most businesses do feel insecure whether to invest time and money for Research and Development due to the lack of industry standards and regulations with respect to the technology.
Before being able to guarantee suitability and successful implementation in any business, it is essential to study the differences between public, private, hybrid, and consortium Blockchain types.

In areas of application not strongly relying on Blockchain's distributed systems, alternative solutions such as Big Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning might be more valuable. Nonetheless, Blockchain promises the unique potential for insurance companies to efficiently serve global markets with areas of application mainly concentrating on parts of the VC where bureaucracy can be reduced by automation. For instance, the use of Smart Contracts where lots of data are analyzed, saved, distributed, and pro- cessed. By implementing BC, fields, where the focus is on customer experience such as Payments, Data Security, Transparency, and Developing New Business and Product Ideas, can be improved enormously. Use cases and new products supported by Blockchain might include P2P Micro-Insurances, Ad-hoc and Parametric Insurance Models, Automized Underwriting, Reduction of Fraud and Abuse, and Health Insurance Processes. Real-Time Analytics in the Form of SCs, Instant Pay-Outs, Automized Claims Management, and Improved Risk Modelling of Insurance Businesses might be achievable by connecting Blockchain and Big Data.

Contrary to the expectations of the author, most industry experts are aware of the benefits and opportunities the technology can bring to their companies. Still, Blockchain is not anchored in their medium- to long-term visions and strategies. Most of the interviewees would rather act as active observers and early followers than taking the lead proactively. Reasons for this behavior, are the lack of market standards and regulations, the absence of solid Blockchain networks, and the shortage of use cases, but also, the lack of know-how and data security concerns.