By Staff Reporter
CryptoBLK, a Hong Kong blockchain technology firm, and the Hong Kong Federation of Insurers (HKFII) has jointly launched Asia’s first auto insurance verification system on the blockchain, according to a press statement on December 17.
The new platform will help assist the public in validating the authenticity of car insurance and prevent fraud and weed out rampant multiple false auto insurance claims that are produced from a single incident.
Named as Midas, the newly-launched “Car Insurance e-Check,” built on distributed ledger technology, allows support multi-party stakeholders to verify vehicle insurance documents and provide audit trails in real time.
Every car insurance is stored on the distributed ledger system that allows the system to provide instant verification while ensuring data security and protecting user privacy.
To protect privacy, the owner’s personal information, including personal identification information (PII) ID card will not be stored on the system, the statement said.
Midas provides a specific two-dimensional code for each policy that allows the owner to verify the authenticity of the car’s temporary policy more quickly when they are up for renewal at the four licensing offices of the Hong Kong’s Department of Transportation.
CryptoBLK has been working on the project for 12-months, including conceptual design, testing, modification, trial and launch, and third-party network security audit, said Duncan Wong, chief executive. The firm was spun off from Hong Kong’s Advanced Science and Technology Research Institute (Astri).
Wong, who holds a PhD in cryptography, said the latest project is a landmark application of blockchain technology in the insurance industry and called Midas a good model of public-private partnership in the commercialization of DLT.
CryptoBLK has been involved in multiple blockchain initiatives, including building HSBC’s DLT platform for trade finance and digitization of letter of credits, which is one of the first pilot applications of blockchain in traditional banking.
Amongst other banks, Hong Kong’s Bank of China has deployed blockchain technology to track mortgage loans.
