MetLife has become the first multinational insurer to join the R3 blockchain consortium, which tackles trade financing challenges with distributed ledger technology.
MetLife will work with R3 members to identify how blockchain technology can be used in the insurance industry to streamline activities like business processing, new investments management, policy administration, customer payments and distribution of proceeds.
MetLife executive vice president and head of global technology & operations organization Marty Lippert said: “R3’s work has proven how blockchain technology can disrupt how business is done today.
“MetLife is proud to be the first multinational insurer and 60th member to join this prestigious group."
R3 is a financial innovation firm that leads a consortium partnership with more than 50 of the global financial institutions.
The members work together to design and deliver advanced distributed ledger technologies to the worldwide financial markets.
Some of the financial institutions in the consortium include JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Royal Bank of Scotland, State Street, and UBS.
Met Life will seek to apply R3's blockchain-inspired, shared ledger development project Concord to the traditionally paper-intensive insurance business.
R3 CEO David Rutter said: “The addition of a major insurance player such as MetLife is testament to the growing interest in distributed ledger technology amongst the non-bank financial services community."
Image: The MetLife Building (formerly the Pan Am Building) as seen from 101 Park Avenue. Photo: courtesy of User:Postdlf.