Samsung SDS was chosen as the business that will establish a blockchain platform for South Korea’s life insurance industry.
Korea Life Insurance Association (KLIA) announced that it chose Samsung SDS as the one that will be responsible for its ‘Establishment of Life Insurance Industry’s Blockchain Platform and Materialization of Innovative Assignments Based on Blockchain Project’.
KLIA and 19 life insurance providers formed a blockchain consortium in April and set up a plan to apply a blockchain platform for verification process and insurance claim process.
KLIA put out an official announcement and had carried out a selection process. Five businesses such as IBK, SK C&C, LG CNS, SCI Information Service, and Samsung SDS participated in a bidding process. After considering their technical skills and prices, KLIA ultimately chose Samsung SDS out of the five.
“We closely looked at technical skill and price as the standards for the selection process and we decided that Samsung SDS had the most fit skills and price for our project.” said a representative for KLIA. “After we finalize a contract with Samsung SDS, we are going to go ahead with our actual project.”
Samsung SDS is planning to apply its blockchain platform called Nexledger.
Nexledger, which is a blockchain platform for general businesses, was introduced to Samsung Card first in 2017. It was then applied to a shipping network blockchain consortium established by Korea Customs Service and Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries since May of 2017. It was also applied to Samsung SDI’s foreign branch’s business in managing electronic contracts. Nexledger can be used for real-time large-scale transactions process, Smart Contract, and management monitoring that could not be done with current blockchain technologies.
Samsung SDS is going to apply Nexledger to help KLIA with setting up a blockchain platform, simplifying insurance claim process, and discovering additional innovative assignments.
“By applying Nexledger to South Korea’s life insurance industry, we are planning to support digital innovation of 19 life insurance providers by establishing a trust with customers through joint authentication.” said Department Head (Vice-President) Yoo Hong-joon of Samsung SDS’s Financial Business Department.
It is expected that Samsung SDS’s blockchain platform will quickly spread to entire financial industries as it starts to work with life insurance industry followed by stock firms and banks in South Korea.
Previously, South Korea’s financial investment industry started a pilot service of ‘CHAIN ID’, which is a joint authentication technology based on blockchain technology. This technology does not require a separate registration process when a person goes through a verification process at a stock firm and tries financial trades at a different stock firm. The Korea Federation of Banks also selected Samsung SDS as the primary negotiator for its blockchain authentication business that has 18 banks participating. It is expected that the certification system that was inconvenient will change drastically once blockchain business per financial industry becomes active.
Staff Reporter Park, Yoonho | yuno@etnews.com