Hong Kong insurer Blue Cross adopts blockchain to speed up medical claims, eliminate fraud
- Bank of East Asia’s insurance unit says blockchain will help to save costs on data verification across its network of clinics and customers
- Company has launched two products approved under the government’s Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme
Hong Kong’s insurance firms are fast embracing technology to keep up with their more nimble rivals.
On Tuesday, Blue Cross (Asia-Pacific) Insurance said it has become the first insurer in the city to launch a blockchain-backed solution to speed up medical insurance claims and prevent fraud, adding that the distributed ledger technology will also help the company cut costs.
Rivals Prudential, HSBC Life and Bowtie Insurance have started selling insurance products and processing insurance claims online in the past year, but they are yet to adopt blockchain to process them.
ZhongAn Online Property & Casualty Insurance, an online-only insurer listed in Hong Kong, uses blockchain to verify records and process claims. However, it offers this service only on the mainland.
Blockchain is a digital data structure that is most recognised for verifying and recording transactions using a network of computers rather than a centralised authority.
As the data and transactions are validated in real-time, the risk of fraud is eliminated and claims can be processed faster for the company’s 200,000 plus customers, Patrick Wan, managing director of Blue Cross, said at the launch of the company’s two products approved under the government’s recently launched Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme.