Among the many promises of InsurTech, streamlining the underwriting and smoothing insurance application processes sits at the top of the list. Next Insurtech, a Cyberport incubatee, has created a pair of products to turn that aspiration into reality.
Working with the Logistics and Supply Chain MultiTech R&D Centre (LSCM), the start-up has developed Hong Kong’s first general insurance blockchain called “Next InsurChain”. Built upon the IBM Hyperledger Fabric, this innovation provides a backend infrastructure that enables insurance companies, regulators, and authorised third parties to conduct secure and real-time data exchange. By splitting an insurance policy into multiple layers, each with different privacy settings and accessible only by intended parties, Next InsurChain drastically streamlines mundane administrative processes traditionally carried out by agents and vapid paperwork. This enables insurers to keep operational costs low and enhances the insurance market’s overall efficiency.
Next InsurChain is the winner of the Silver Medal at the 2021 International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva. Next Insurtech also launched a general insurance sales platform in 2020 called HoldCover.com, which received the “Certificate of Merit” from the Hong Kong ICT Awards 2020.
This one-stop platform lets users obtain instant quotations for a broad variety of insurances from insurers, compare quotes, and submit applications. As of March 2021, 15 insurance companies have already connected to the platform. Thanks to its standardised “Policy Issuance System”, HoldCover transforms traditional B2B general insurance product selling into a B2C affair. Because HoldCover is itself an Insurance Broker Licensee, it can even provide 24/7 in-house customer services to users, more than just a comparison website.
Next Insurtech is now planning further collaboration with LSCM, insurance companies and the Insurance Authority to trial launch Next InsurChain under the Cyberport-administered Fintech Proof-of-Concept Subsidy Scheme, and the Public Sector Trial Scheme under the Innovation and Technology Fund. It is also developing more business connections and potential partnerships in Hong Kong, Thailand, and Taiwan.
