New Blockchain Application Being Tested In Australia To Support Insurance Settlements With Disabled Citizens

Blockchain technology started as a method of keeping cryptocurrency transactions transparent, offering the industry honesty with a nascent form of investment. However, in the last few years, it has made the leap into multiple industries that want to have the same command of accountability. Australia is among the latest to dive in, hoping to use blockchain technology as a way to settle insurance payments, specifically for citizens that struggle with disabilities.

This decision was made by the local federal science agency, along with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CommBank) and Data61. Data61 is a digital innovation center that is part of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO). The two banks announced that they were working on a proof-of-concept in their blockchain project, called “Making Money Smart.” The emerging prototype will allow citizens with disabilities to manage their own insurance plans but will not have to use any paperwork or receipts to make appointments, find doctors, or make payments.

The technology involves the connection between a coded blockchain token and smart contracts, linked to Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). With that connection, both service providers and participants have the ability to submit and process payments, based on pre-defined conditions. Using the trial is necessary, due to the “personalized payment conditions” that need to be established, says Data61.

The annoucement elaborates, saying, “In the NDIS, participants have individualized plans that can contain multiple budget categories – each with different spending rules. The prototype app supports participants to manage their plan by enabling them to find, book and pay for services from NDIS service providers without the need for paperwork or receipts.”

Sophie Gilder, Head of Experimentation and Blockchain at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, added, “Programmable money represents an opportunity to re-envisage how we think about money and how payments function across the economy. The potential of this technology for the NDIS is exciting, ranging from greater empowerment for participants, reduced administration costs for businesses and greater visibility for Government. It’s been rewarding to collaborate with Data61 on a project that could have such a large, positive impact for the community.”

The public will be able to get more information about the Making Money Smart project when the group adds to their report in November. The upcoming report will detail “the design benefits and limitations of the blockchain based system for the NDIS use case, including user feedback and recommendations on future applications,” according to the annoucement.

The partnering with these two banks is natural, considering their recent progress with blockchain development and application. CSIRO has been putting their blockchain network through tests of its own to challenge their own claim that it processes 30,000 transactions each second across borders. The Commonwealth Bank has been helping World Bank Group to raise funds for a blockchain network by the bank, resulting in $81 million in funding.

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