AAIS Partners With IBM Blockchain To Make Regulatory Reporting Smoother

By Dmitriy

BTC Wires: According to an announcement made this Wednesday, IBM Blockchain is now the platform of choice for the American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS). The IBM Blockchain will be aiding the AAIS by supporting its new automated insurance reporting tool.

The open Insurance Data Link or the openIDL in short, has been developed on the IBM Blockchain using the Hyperledger Fabric and this is aimed at simplifying how the company carries out its regulatory reporting. This will allow insurance carriers to use a permitted blockchain for storage of data, so that regulators can access the information anytime they need. The system would make it smoother for the company to report all information related to its members’ insurance carriage to the regulatory entities in the state-Level Insurance Departments.

Craig Bedel, a member of the IBM Industry Academy, stated that AAIS’ choice was motivated by two key factors: the fact that Hyperledger Fabric is open-sourced as well as because IBM is one of the few, if not the only, companies that can offer an enterprise level platform.

Currently, AAIS submits reports for each insurer with a membership to it. Based on varying state laws, the AAIS makes these submissions on a monthly or a quarterly basis. However, when the new system is put in use, AAIS would no longer be required to directly play this role as carriers would store all information on a blockchain network that can be accessed by regulatory authorities at any time, regardless of whether a report has formally arrived.

CEO of the insurance advisory organization, Ed Kelly, stated that they had taken note of the immense potential blockchain has and has hence decided to make use of it to boost efficiency, transparency and security of insurance data while maintaining strict accountability and compliance as far as regulatory authorities are concerned.

Sandip Patel, IBM Global Insurance Industry’s global manager elaborated further by saying that Hyperledger Fabric makes sure the transactions retain their privacy and confidentiality, leaving insure in full control of their access even when they’ve shared it on the network. He expressed excitement in the application of blockchain to bring a large chunk of an entire industry together and to produce real results. Even though the project is still in its pilot stage, Bedel says it’s already “open for business”. The work of getting both insurers and regulators on board is already underway.