Block Chain Application in Insurance Services: A Systematic Review of the Evidence

Abstract

The Insurance industry participates in various processes that are characterized by data exchange, which is modified or updated by many parties. Hence, the insurance industry can benefit from the adoption of blockchain technology. However, there is a lack of understanding of the technology, the legal implications and the issues in implementing the technology. This paper aims at finding potential opportunities for the insurance sector on the implementation of blockchain technology. It also discusses issues and concerns for insurance companies wanting to adopt block chain technologies. A search was carried out for relevant electronic bibliographic databases (searched by means of keywords), articles published in scientific journals, websites of consultancy firms and blockchain developers, and reference lists of relevant review articles. Articles were screened and eligibility was based on participants, procedures, interventions comparisons, outcomes (PICO) model and criteria for PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews). A total of 23 papers were finalized after scrutiny for this study whereby the results disclose that blockchain, as a single source of reality, has the potential to improve productivity and mitigate the complexity of the insurance processes. Examples of real-world applications and insurance use cases are presented to demonstrate the strengths & capabilities of the technology. This study also considers the present-day issues, risks and concerns in the implementation of the blockchain technology. Finally, the challenges and obstacles in the application of Blockchain technology in the Insurance Sector is highlighted and presented.