A managing director for Accenture has published a new blog post detailing why he believes the insurance industry will move to embrace the blockchain within the "next few years".
Abizer Rangwala, who focuses on insurance IT strategy for the professional services firm, wrote on 4th January that he expects the technology to "have a profound effect on business", adding that, in his opinion, this impact is already underway.
Rangwala wrote:
"Insurance is gaining momentum in the use of blockchain and slowly figuring out the true business use or to some degree what the use case should be. I have no doubt that within the next few years it will be a major technology in the insurance ecosystem."
Some major insurance companies have already begun exploring proofs-of-concept that utilize a blockchain. Last year, insurance firm Lloyd's indicated its support for using the technology within the London Market, the UK-based international insurance market.
Rangwala went on to speculate that while it may take some time for specific products to emerge within the insurance market that utilize a blockchain, there are some indications of what those offerings may look like, including those that operate on a peer-to-peer scale.
"The effect of blockchain for insurance products is a not as clear-cut and will likely take longer to emerge than for banking," he wrote. "The speed and ease with which contracts could be changed and the time-stamping feature of blockchain could, for example, facilitate individualized contracts that reflect actual risk, such as on-demand auto insurance effective only during hours a car is being driven."
Accenture has pushed for financial firms to embrace the blockchain in past reports, and in July added Bitspark to its Asia-Pacific financial tech accelerator.
The firm has also called for regulators to increase oversight of bitcoin wallets, calling for the creation of "reasonable and proportionate" rules governing wallet offerings. Overbearing regulation, Accenture wrote in a submission to the UK government, could "stifle innovation".
Accenture image via Franz Conde for Flickr