Blockchain-powered insurance mobile notification coming to South Korea

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South Korean telecom company KT Corporation has partnered with a local insurance agency to integrate blockchain technology with its mobile notification service. The project aims at reducing mailing costs and enhancing the customer experience.

KT partnered with KB Insurance, a subsidiary of KB Financial Group, the largest bank in South Korea with over $444 billion in assets. The new system will target the non-life insurance business initially.

KB Insurance usually sends notifications to its clients about important information such as pending payments and policy changes. These notifications are vital and it’s therefore critical that the clients receive them. The insurer will now be matching its clients’ information with KT’s user subscription information.

The service will be optional for the clients, Ledger Insights reports. Those who opt in will be able to receive the important notifications as texts on their mobile phones. Using blockchain technology, the insurer will be able to contact the clients even when they change their numbers. The telecom company will allow the insurer access to the client’s personal identification information, allowing it to match its data with the client’s new number.

Seo Wan-Woo, the senior vice president of IT at KB Insurance remarked, “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.”

The insurer intends on cutting down mailing costs and reducing non-delivery of critical notifications, ultimately improving its customer experience. Moreover, the initiative will reduce paper use and physical contact with the clients, an important step during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The project will also incorporate users of the other two most popular telecom companies – SK Telecom and LG U+. Once the insurer sends the information on mobile, it will be logged by a blockchain certification system. This will give mobile notifications the same legal standing as registered mail. It will also allow the insurer to prove that the notification reached the intended client.

The blockchain system to be used belongs to the Korea Internet & Security Agency. The agency has backed blockchain technology for years now. It has invested millions of dollars into blockchain startups as part of Korea’s government plan to make the country a global blockchain hub.