In my role as CEO, this is my first in a series of blog posts to share my perspective on themes related to the work we do at B3i and the exciting journey we are on.
B3i announces the release and subsequent deployment of its latest Property Catastrophe Excess of Loss application to customers’ production environments ahead of year end renewals.
John Carolin has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of B3i Services AG (“B3i”). John previously served as interim CEO since March 2019 after joining B3i as Chief Financial Officer in March 2018.
B3i are delighted to announce Tradt’s appointment to the Board of Directors for the Corda Network Foundation. A separate legal entity responsible for the overall governing of Corda Network, comprising senior figures from across financial services and other businesses building on Corda.
B3i, a leading insurance transaction platform developer, expands its community represented by more than 40 companies as customers, members and shareholders.
B3i’s Ken Marke, recently sat down with Philipp Tölle, one of B3i’s Solutions Architects, to gather insight on the topic of Authentication and Authorisation in a distributed environment. To explore the unique challenges the team have overcome and how they are making best use of current technology at B3i.
Blog written by B3i's Chief Marketing Officer, Ken Marke, on the subject of his experience of data privacy within the Insurance industry. Ken reflects how Blockchain can support GDPR, and how B3i actively seeks to put the customer in control of their personal data.
With its commercial initiative B3i is looking to create standards and a common terminology for all partners, and integrate all the information regarding the contract on one platform while automating functionalities of the contract.
“It was the voice of the customer asking for Commercial Insurance, but it also made sense for us if you look at excess of loss contract in Reinsurance,” explained B3i Chief Executive Officer Paul Meeusen.
B3i will be hosting its first Community Conference on the 14th and 15th November 2018 in Amsterdam.
Designed to bring together Blockchain and Insurance experts, the B3i Community Conference is packed full of expert speakers from across the industry, and an opportunity to dive into the detail with our series of Masterclasses.
“The technical voice was heard and always present. And this, I think, gave B3i a big advantage in comparison to other initiatives.”
As part of a series of interviews with employees and members of B3i, Ken Marke spoke to Philipp Tölle, Expert Application Engineer, shared his personal views on what differentiates B3i from other initiatives and how Blockchain implementation in the Insurance industry will have a social impact especially in emerging markets.
Quite often we get caught up in industry jargon, flattered by statistics and emboldened by proclamations that technology will change the Insurance industry but, we forget that this change is driven by people – people such as Philipp.
What's happened in the last year at B3i? From Prototype to Product.
We hear from people in attendance at the B3i Monte Carlo event as they discuss working with B3i and the great progress happening within the business itself.
Earlier in the year, B3i invited several industry partners to begin testing our Cat XoL ahead of the 1/1 renewals, this was our Early Mover Programme.
At the Monte Carlo event (September 2018), we caught up with several of the Early Mover's to hear their feedback on the programme and the Cat XoL programme.
Interview with Régis Delayat, CIO, SCOR (Monte Carlo 2018)
Régis discusses progress working with B3i as a part of the Early Mover Programme, industry momentum and looking ahead to an insurance world with Blockchain at its core.
Mark Simpson is an expert consultant working in the world of change, his field of expertise has rested on insurance, re-insurance, and in particular the people, process and technology interactions.
With such a paradigm shift, Blockchain technology is something that should not be looked at through the lens of “will it pay back this year”, rather taking a broader strategic view of ways to improve the customer and partner integration to grow and save, in ways that we haven’t yet thought of.
Deloitte’s new global survey of more than 1,000 global blockchain-savvy executives from seven countries and nine industries is a leading indicator of where blockchain is headed.
For the world of insurance, the application of blockchain is a much more concrete notion and although most insurance companies are therefore interested in it, very few as yet fully understand and use blockchain. B3i CMO, Ken Marke lends his insights to a panel at the Instech summer conference.
Blockchain technology is moving out of the lab and into the insurance business, writes Ken Marke with the Blockchain Insurance Industry Initiative (B3i). Providing an overview of blockchain and its long-term benefits, Marke says that 2018 will be the year when the technology moves past the proof-of-concept phase into real-life applications—ultimately leading to an industry revolution.
Over the course of the panel, Ken responded to questions from host, Alan Pelz-Sharpe, and the audience on the topic of collaboration. Providing insights into the B3i consortium and collaboration between 15 insurance organisations.
Watch an in-depth discussion with a personal touch, Paul Meeusen, CEO, explains the background to B3i and how it plans to make insurance more relevant, accessible and affordable for the market.
Panel: Where Will Blockchain Have the Most Impact?
B3i Chief Marketing Officer, Ken Marke, attended The Blockchain Summit - London, where he was invited to sit on a panel of experts from across several industries, including Banking, Insurance, Logistics and Travel.
As part of the panel discussion, Ken answered questions put to him by host Alan Pelz-Sharpe and members of the audience.
B3i, The Blockchain Insurance Industry Initiative, has announced it will build its applications and business network on the Corda blockchain platform.
B3i Services AG completed a detailed review of the available open source blockchain technologies against the B3i enterprise platform strategy, focusing on critical success factors of data privacy, scalability, interoperability and developer productivity. Following extensive evaluation, B3i concluded that the Corda platform offers the best blockchain solution available, providing a solid foundation for B3i to efficiently deliver business value to its clients.
B3i is very pleased to announce that Susan Joseph has been appointed as its North America Representative. Susan will represent B3i at all levels, with emphasis on regulatory liaison, marketing, community building and promotional activities. This appointment takes place at a critical point in B3i’s development as it seeks investors for a second funding round and makes progress towards the launch of its first product, a Cat XoL contract, on its blockchain platform by the end of this year.
Susan is a JD/MBA and former General Counsel who has been consulting in blockchain for the past three years in the areas of consortia, insurance, identity, financial services, real estate, and humanitarian concerns.
It’s been a very exciting couple of years for B3i, on a journey that started in the spring of 2016 at a round table event hosted by Allianz in Munich. At that first meeting I remember having a sense that there may be some real potential in Blockchain but also feeling rather cynical about it. While I can’t speak for the other people in attendance, I doubt anyone was absolutely certain about if and how this new technology would really impact our businesses. For sure we understood the mechanics of the technology, had observed the Bitcoin experiment and had listened to the rhetoric being pedalled by so many commentators, consultants and vendors, but no one was ready to bet the farm.
Following incorporation of B3i Services AG, the company has commenced structuring its 2nd funding round. B3i is a company which is at the cutting edge of delivering innovative blockchain technology for the re/insurance industry, which already has a strong network of members and excellent feedback on the first product. Please note that B3i's funding round is a private placement for institutional investors only.
Blockchain for Insurance: Real-World Application (May 21-23, London).
The Proof Is In The Application
It is widely acknowledged that the best way for the insurance industry to learn about practical application of blockchain is to review proof of concepts and use cases in action. It’s time to move beyond the hype and see how the insurance value chain is genuinely unlocking efficiency savings and establishing new operating models.
At the Blockchain for Insurance: Real–World Application conference, we will be sharing the first-hand experiences of senior leaders who are implementing blockchain technology from across 10 use case stories.
In the run up to the conference, we’ve spoken with B3i and Generali to provide an exclusive preview of two of the use cases that will be explored in more detail and with live demonstrations.
Chris Madsen, CEO Aegon Blue Square Re writing for B3i
While (re)insurance has made great strides in process improvements over the past decades, many processes remain largely manual, frustrating and costing members of the insurance value chain. Now, imagine a world where data flows easily where it is supposed to go, and it does so in a controlled and secure manner, setting the stage for increasingly automated transactions and processing.
Further, consider that truly digitalising a process allows it to follow Moore’s Law and thus improve exponentially in terms of processing time and capabilities. Setting the stage for this is therefore a valuable and sustainable endeavour that could benefit insurance value chain members for years and decades to come.
- Transition to independent legal entity significant milestone for B3i - B3i Services AG to commercialise blockchain solutions for re/insurance - First product demonstrated efficiency gains of up to 30% in initial testing
The Blockchain Insurance Industry Initiative (B3i) is pleased to announce the incorporation of B3i Services AG in Zurich, Switzerland. The company was formed by the founders of B3i.
NEW YORK — The insurance industry may be better suited for blockchain than the financial services sector, which created its own solution, according to a panel discussion hosted Monday by the New York City Bar Association.
Jags Rao, from Swiss Re explores how a maverick mentality can turn the tables on tradition and have a global impact.
In 1968, Richard Fosbury broke the world record for the high jump with a technique he adopted which is know universally know as the "Fosbury Flop". He broke convention with his unique style challenging the status quo.
Much like the Fosbury Flop, blockchain technology is challenging the status quo in financial transactions. Could it do the same for insurance?
Jags Rao thinks so and so does B3i. Read the full article published in Open Government Access here.
City A.M recently published a thought provoking article suggesting that the insurance industry is about to be hit by a tsunami: blockchain technology.
"Blockchain and smart contracts could improve sector efficiency by up to 30 per cent, according to blockchain insurance industry initiative B3i. Blockchain will make the cost of reinsurance processes and claims cheaper."
The author, Bundeep Singh Rangar, comments that "We ignore the challenge at our peril: if incumbents don't step up, new entrants will."
A year ago I shared my initial thoughts around our first blockchain efforts for insurance. Our work at Swiss Re and the blockchain insurance industry initiative (B3i) had just started. I am often asked whether it turned out as expected, so I will try to describe my main takeaways.
B3i independent research provides encouraging support for a positive business case as it prepares to launch a legal entity.
Market analysis commissioned by B3i and conducted by Stern Stewart & Co during November 2017 with the 15 B3i members and 23 Market Testers produced positive results, which are considered both conservative and very material for the consortium. The survey had a 90% response rate and the results were aggregated and analysed independently by Stern Stewart in order to maintain confidentiality and credibility.
The B3i Autumn Summit brought together 130 participants from 38 member companies to discuss developments, achievements and next steps.
The B3i Autumn Summit which was held in Munich on 15 & 16 November was organised to bring together member companies principally to share the results of the prototype market testing phase, discuss future use cases and receive information about the launch of the new legal entity and investment opportunities.
Monday 6th November 2017 – B3i is pleased to announce that it was presented with a Special Leadership award at the ACORD 2017 conference held in Boston, USA from 24-26 October.
Monday 2nd October 2017 – The Blockchain Insurance Industry Initiative B3i announces the expansion of the group, with 23 new entrants joining its Market Testing program. This follows the successful launch of a working market testing prototype at the Monte Carlo RVS conference on 10th September, 2017.
An overview of B3i by Paul Meeusen, Head Distributed Ledger Technology , Swiss Re; presented at the B3i launch event at Monte Carlo on 10th September 2017
In 1956 Malcolm McLean had a great idea. He ran a trucking company in the US and noticed that there were many inefficiencies in trade and transportation. Goods would be loaded on and off trucks, trains and ships multiple times on the journey to their final destination. Repackaging and reloading was required at every step of the journey. From this insight, the modern shipping container was born, reducing loading costs from 6 dollars to 16 cents per ton, a 36 fold saving that resulted in a huge increase in global trade.
On Sunday 10th September, B3i showcased a fully functional beta-version of its integrated blockchain solution for the re/insurance industry at the Monte Carlo RVS event. The launch of the prototype named Codex1, was very well attended and was warmly received by the market and press.
There is a real opportunity to improve reinsurance processes with the use of blockchain technology, which can deliver cost savings and efficiency gains of 30 percent by taking out unnecessary reconciliation, repetitive duplication of work and waiting times.
Monte Carlo, 10th September 2017 – B3i, the Blockchain Insurance Industry Initiative, announces launch of market beta-testing of its reinsurance blockchain prototype.
EY and Guardtime announce the world’s first blockchain platform for the marine insurance sector. The platform launches in collaboration with A.P. Møller-Maersk A/S, ACORD, Microsoft, MS Amlin, Willis Towers Watson and XL Catlin and after a 20-week proof of concept.
The Blockchain Insurance Industry Initiative B3i will present its newly developed prototype smart contract management system at the 2017 Monte Carlo RVS conference.
