Apr 2, 2018
Insurance companies are notoriously slow at adopting new
technology, which is why Mutual of Omaha stands out among them. An
actuary by trade, Brian Poppe came across blockchain technology a
few years ago and has since considered the ways in which it can
revolutionize the insurance industry. Poppe is the Senior Vice
President of Departing Well Solutions at Mutual of Omaha, and
provides insight into some of the current problems in the industry
and how blockchain technology can help.
When an insurance company finds itself carrying too much risk, it
will seek assistance from a reinsurance company, which is a company
that is willing to insure that insurance company. Forming these
partnerships, however, requires an excessive amount of
back-and-forth communication, data transfers and payments
transfers; it’s time-consuming and complicated for everyone
involved.
The solution? By using blockchain technology and smart contracts in
developing these partnerships, each side is able to track the
transfer of data and payments on a shared ledger. As a result,
accounting becomes simple, secure, and occurs in real time. Mutual
of Omaha has also implemented APIs for quoting, and is becoming
more open with the way they share those APIs.
In the near future, Poppe sees the insurance industry in general
becoming more and more tech-savvy, resulting in overall greater
improvements. To get in contact with Brian, send him an email at
brian.poppe@mutualofomaha.com.