Welcome to another episode of our News Flash series, where share the latest developments in the blockchain space, straight off the press. For today’s episode we are excited to present Ken Marke, CMO at B3i, the blockchain insurance industry initiative.

Ken is joining us to reveal some exciting news about B3i’s new product and plans for the future.

 

B3i

B3i, which we have introduced in a previous episode, began life in October 2016 when five insurers and reinsurers came together to see how blockchain can benefit the insurance industry. This led to a consortium which ten other members joined to test the viability of blockchain in solving problems for the insurance industry. Its first project was a prototype for a catastrophe excess of loss programme, which has been very successful. The next step was to establish B3i as a legal entity, domiciled in Zurich.

Now, B3i is focused on expanding its product line and enabling partners to cooperate with them to offer more products and services on B3i’s platform, thereby creating a network ecosystem. Today B3i will reveal how it plans to achieve this goal and Ken is here to guide us through B3i’s announcements.

 

1. Commercial insurance development programme

B3i is launching its commercial insurance development programme, for which it recruited Antonio di Marzo from Generali. You listen to Antonio’s interview below to find out more about B3i’s development programme.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1tTRoY5BYk

B3i’s development strategy also involves expanding its global network. It will launch an office in New York in a few weeks and is planning to open several new offices in key regions around the globe. Additionally, B3i has been forming alliances with industry groups around the world, including the Association of British Insurers in the UK and the Chamber of Digital Commerce in the US.

The purpose of B3i’s new alliances, and of its development programme in general, is to expand its network and its ability to educate the insurance industry. Ken points out it is very important for the insurance industry to better understand blockchain’s potential. While experimenting with blockchain is welcome, Ken believes the time has come to move beyond experimentation and start identifying real problems blockchain can solve in the insurance industry. As Ken says, “let’s get blockchain out of the lab and into the business”.

 

2. Cat XoL product

Staying true to Ken’s word, B3i unveiled a demo of their Cat XoL prototype in September 2017, inviting companies to join its testing platform. We are excited to announce the Cat XoL product will become available on the market at the end of this year, taking live contracts on the platform through an early movers programme.

B3i chose Cat XoL as its first product as it is important to start simple when developing a prototype. A Property Cat XoL contract was the perfect choice as there is usually a smaller network in a reinsurance contract including a seed, a broker and a few reinsurers. Additionally, there are less transactions in a reinsurance contract, ensuring the new concept wouldn’t face too much pressure in the early stages of development. In that way, B3i could work on a simple project, making sure the prototype, its functionalities and peripheral needs are all in order before moving on to more complex products.

 

But isn’t trust already guaranteed in such a small...