South Korea’s KB Insurance is working with telecoms firm KT Corp to combine blockchain with a mobile notification service for customers of its non-life insurance business. The company aims to reduce mailing costs, non-delivery of notifications, and improve customer experience.
KB Financial offers banking, insurance, credit card, and brokerage services in South Korea. As of March 31, the company has total assets of $444.6 billion.
Insurance companies need to periodically send notifications of policy changes or pending payments to customers. KB Insurance is exploring the mobile notifications system to ensure that the customer receives this vital mail using a digital channel.
Working with KT, KB Insurance will match customer information with the mobile subscription information held by the telco. Policyholders who opt-in for the service will be able to receive insurance notifications on their mobile phones without an additional app. So even if the consumer changes their address and mobile number, personal identification information with the insurer will be used to match data and pull up the new number.
Along with KT, customers of SK Telecom and LG U+ who are KB Insurance clients will be able to receive mobile notifications. The information sent using the mobile notification service will be logged by the blockchain certification system of the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA). This will enable mobile notifications to have the same legal standing as registered mail, and allow the insurer to have proof that the notice reached the customer.
“We expect to see a dramatic improvement in the quality of our customer notification service through the introduction of ‘Mobile Notification Service’ in partnership with KT,” said Seo Wan-Woo, Senior Vice President of IT Insurance at KB Insurance.
Starting next month, KB Insurance will use the service to send out payment and termination notices to auto insurance customers. It will soon expand the service for clients of other insurance products.
The company said the initiative supports its environmental, social and governance (ESG) management policies by reducing paper use. It also promotes contactless communication, a need of the hour during this COVID-19 crisis.
KISA is backing several blockchain initiatives, and last year announced it would use $9 million to fund projects in the country. It is co-hosting the Initial DID Association consortium along with the Ministry of Science and ICT. KT, SK Telecom and LG U+ are members of the decentralized identity consortium.
In Poland, the Billon Group has developed a document management platform for local banks. The solution enables banks to eliminate paper-based communication with their clients.
