Chinese insurance companies regulate Corona cases by blockchain
By Blokkx Ltd. on The Capital
Blokkx Ltd. March 2020
The Coronavirus puts Chinese insurance companies to the test and creates use cases for the blockchain
Chinese insurance companies rely on blockchain in the fight against the Coronavirus. China has been facing challenges since the appearance of the Coronavirus. The number of people infected continues to rise, and the number of deaths is increasing steadily. Insurers, in particular, are having problems in settling the claims that arise. Accordingly, startups have taken the first steps to introduce automated processing of insurance claims.
Xiang Hu Bao automates claims settlement for corona cases
As the Chinese medium South China Morning Post announced on February 9, 2020, the platform operator Xiang Hu Bao has published an extension for the platform. With the help of the update, payments for insurance claims related to the Coronavirus up to a loss amount of 14,300 US dollars can be executed automatically.
Xiang Hu Bao is not an insurance company, but a startup. The business model focuses on the operation of a blockchain-based platform for the joint claiming of insurance claims. The platform already has more than 104 million users. As the report makes clear, the blockchain technology serves to prevent fraud and should enable the rapid processing of insurance payments.
Ant Financial takes up the fight against Coronavirus
The startup also belongs to the portfolio of the Chinese financial group Ant Financial, which is known above all for its payment service AliPay. The company uses AliPay to finance payments to victims of the Coronavirus.
“Thanks to the decentralized, trust-free blockchain technology, Xiang Hu Bao was able to process complaints more quickly and make payouts to participants. […] Applicants can submit their receipts as evidence, while the investigating companies can access them immediately via the blockchain. All participants can view the entire process.” — Statement of a company spokesman of Ant Financial
The Coronavirus provides more automation for insurers
The efforts to automate insurance claims are not only the focus of Ant Financial. Blue Cross Insurance, which belongs to the Bank of East Asia, is also working on the automatic processing of insurance claims. The company is focusing on a corresponding claims app. Through this approach, the insurance company wants to minimize the effects of the pandemic. As Patrick Wan, Managing Director of Blue Cross Insurance, points out; the blockchain plays a key role in this goal.
“During the outbreak of the Coronavirus, our block-chain-based claims service played a key role by eliminating the paper process and the need to deliver and return documents to hospitals. This helps to reduce the risk of infection through direct contact.”
Furthermore, Blue Cross Insurance states that the developed platform can handle more than 1,000 transactions per second. This requires no human intervention whatsoever. Also, the app has shown an extraordinarily positive development since its launch in April 2019. Monthly growth for medical purposes has always been in the double-digit range. By using the app, customers can claim their entitlements just one day after their hospital stay.
The influence of the Coronavirus on blockchain technology
In recent days, the number of confirmed infections has skyrocketed, and the Coronavirus has already killed more than 800 people. The beneficiary of the current pandemic is the blockchain technology, which is helping to overcome the crisis.
For example, Acoer, a blockchain application developer, has developed a data visualization tool called Hashlog. This enables the Coronavirus to be tracked using the Hedera Hashgraph distributed protocol. Syren Johnstone, Executive Director of the Master-in-Law Program at the University of Hong Kong, has also proposed to implement blockchain and AI strategies to better respond to the pandemic. Hyperchain, another blockchain startup, also announced a platform at the beginning of February to help fight the current crisis.
However, there is also less positive news from the industry. Some blockchain events in Asia have been postponed due to current events. For example, the blockchain startup Bitspark announced its closure and listed the virus as one of the many reasons.
Conclusion: Blockchain as a means of crisis management
The current pandemic has its origin in China. The country is already severely affected, and the virus is affecting the country’s economic performance. Nevertheless, the country is not standing still, like blockchain technology, in particular, is establishing itself as a crisis management tool.
The insurance industry, in particular, benefits from the use of technology and establishes automated billing options for patients. Other companies are also developing block-chain-supported services to help the ailing country.
