ANZ, Suncorp and IBM team for blockchain insurance tech
Blockchain in New Zealand
Two Antipodean banking heavyweights, ANZ and Suncorp New Zealand, have joined forces with IBM to develop a blockchain solution for the insurance industry.
The project is one of the first of its kind in New Zealand. The three parties have carried out a proof of concept (POC).
Tim Buckett, CFO at Suncorp New Zealand, says it was “an exciting way” to test if a blockchain-based technology solution couldspeed up the reconciliation process for insurance premium payments, as well as improve customer experience for all the participants.
“Reconciling policy information and premium payments made by a broker to an insurer on behalf of customers is a slow and painful process,” explains Paul Goodwin, ANZ managing director institutional NZ.
“The blockchain solution will be much more efficient for the industry as well as being very secure. As a ‘single source of truth’, it will provide greater visibility throughout the process, remove uncertainty and help make response times faster. This technology will work with existing industry solutions to capture relevant information; ensuring payments can be forecast and made without the need for reconciliation.”
