Insurance business will see biggest impact from blockchain, says Deloitte

The insurance sector will see the most significant change from the adoption of blockchain technology, according to professional services giant Deloitte.

While best known as the public ledger for bitcoin transactions, blockchain is already being used in many other applications such as digital banking, trade finance, cross-border payments, health care and food security to enhance transparency and efficiency, and cut costs.

However, Deloitte predicts the technology will drastically change the business model of the insurance industry.

“Insurance is going to see the most impact from blockchain, along with data analytics,” said Joe Guastella, Deloitte Global consulting leader for financial services.

With blockchain and big data, insurers can reduce the uncertainty of their risk pool system.

“As long as you can predict more, the actual risks become less, and there’s going to be a need to rethink what kind of things should be insured,” he said, adding that currently blockchain usage is more about improving the process.