DELOITTE and China Life Insurance (Overseas) (CLIO) have jointly announced the successful development of the first cross-border bancassurance distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform in Greater China.

CLIO and China Guangfa Bank Co Ltd (CGB) have deployed the DLT platform in production in real business scenarios. Working together with banks, CLIO aims to promote integrated collaboration within the financial services industry and to improve customer service.

After conducting in-depth analyses of many different insurance blockchain scenarios, CLIO and Deloitte have taken into account the specific demands of bancassurance sector in Hong Kong and Macau, and developed this platform, the first ever DLT use case for cross-border bancassurance, according to Deloitte in a recent note.

In March 2017, they successfully registered the DLT platform under the National Internet Finance Association of China (NIFA) and have become the only NIFA endorsed project, namely “Research on blockchain application for premium settlements,” led by a state-owned financial institution.

“Through an authorised DLT platform, we can eliminate vast amounts of paperwork and clerical processes, thus increasing operational efficiency. This enables insurance companies and banks to integrate their systems through existing channels in a more streamlined manner, which allows insurance companies to introduce new products to developing countries at a faster pace,” says Paul Sin, consulting partner and lead of Deloitte's Asia-Pacific blockchain lab.

Earlier this year, Deloitte partnered with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and other industry participants to develop a distributed ledger technology proof-of-concept for trade finance.

Deloitte’s Asia-Pacific blockchain Lab – comprises more than 20 people in Hong Kong and 70 developers in China, further supported by 900 blockchain practitioners across 20 countries in the global Deloitte innovation GRID – works with international organizations looking to roll out blockchain-enabled solutions. Deloitte has developed more than 40 blockchain-related prototypes, covering a multitude of uses such as digital identity, digital banking, cross-border payments, trade finance, and loyalty and rewards solutions, as well as distinct efforts for the investment management and insurance sectors.