MetLife’s Singapore-based incubator LumenLab has partnered with media corporation Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and insurance company NTUC Income (Income) to roll out Ethereum-based smart contract platform known as Lifechain.
MetLife, the world’s sixth-largest insurance company that has 90 million customers in over 60 countries and offers insurance, retirement and savings products for 140 years, has decided to use benefits provided by Ethereum’s distributed ledger technology to transform the life insurance claims process.
As a rule, life insurance claims process goes along with some issues. Filing a claim can be difficult, as a family after the loss of its member may not even know that the deceased had a policy because of the private nature of life insurance. Being aware of all these issues that families face, MetLife has decided to use the live public Ethereum blockchain to make the claims process less complicated and more transparent, efficient and simple.
Within the initiative, MetLife’s Singapore-based incubator LumenLab has partnered with media corporation Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and insurance company NTUC Income (Income) to roll out Ethereum-based smart contract platform known as Lifechain. As Forbes reports, the aim of Lifechain is to transform the insurance industry as a whole, create new markets, products, and serve a wider range of customers at a lower price.
How Lifechain Works
First, those families who use MetLife’s services will be informed of the new program and welcomed to participate.
In case they agree, Lifechain will encrypt the deceased’s National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) number included in the Death Certificate that is issued by a government database. This number will be placed on the Ethereum blockchain.
Then, search for a matching life insurance policy will start on NTUC Income’s databases. If the match is found, Singapore Press Holdings will inform the family members within a day, while Lifechain will send an automatic notification to Income via email to initiate the claims process.
The idea seems to be pretty smart. The program will make the claims process much easier for families and demonstrate a way to efficiently use blockchain in different spheres.
Zia Zaman, CIO of MetLife Asia and CEO of LumenLab, stated:
“The future of distributed ledger technology in life insurance will somewhat depend on public sector involvement. Those jurisdictions and governments that are more innovative will see citizens and policyholders in their jurisdictions benefit from less friction, more fulfilled payments, and a general overall improved experience.”
Moreover, the initiative will add to Ethereum’s popularity, which already boasts such companies as Microsoft, Ubisoft, JPMorgan, and IBM already exploiting its network.
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