Allianz To Bring Token-based System for Its Cross-Border Insurance Payments

Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE (AGCS), the Germany-based insurance giant is looking to have a blockchain-based tokenized ecosystem thereby making it easy for its corporate customers to make quick and instant cross-border financial payments.

As per the Forbes report last week, Allianz wants to streamline its international insurance payments. The insurance giant is thus tapping the power of blockchain technology which facilitates instant token payments at low cost and with utmost transparency.

In an email to Forbes, an Allianz spokesperson said: "AGCS is further exploring blockchain technology to simplify and accelerate cross-border insurance payments for its corporate customers. A project team is in the advanced stages of development for a token-based electronic payment system to allow for frictionless, transparent and instantaneous money transfers for a range of different types [of] payments.”

However, the spokesperson added that they are currently in the experimentation phase. He said: "The basic core infrastructure has been built and tested, and the next step will be to trial money transfers with a limited scope and for a short period of time to conclude testing and prove hypothesis”.

When it comes to dealing with the crypto markets, Allianz is found to have a whimsical approach. Last year during the crypto winter of 2018, Allianz Global Investors head, Andreas Utermann, asked the global regulators to go hard on cryptocurrencies and ban them completely.

“You should outlaw [crypto assets] because many have lost savings due to the significant slump in the crypto markets. “I am personally surprised that regulators haven’t stepped in harder,” said Utermann.

However, even before that, during the mid 2018 Allianz was supposedly working on a proposal to bring insurance for the cryptocurrency storage. One of the Allianz spokespersons said: “Insurance for cryptocurrency storage will be a big opportunity. Digital assets are becoming more relevant, important and prevalent on the real economy and we are exploring product and coverage options in this area.”

But Allianz is not alone when it comes to jumping into the crypto game after initial criticism. JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon heavily criticized Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in 2017, however, the Wall Street banking giant is itself launching its native digital currency JPM Coin for instant settlements among its global clients.