RiskStream Collaborative Completes Project for Mortality Monitor™ Application

In collaboration with Nationwide, Prudential Financial, and Securian Financial,The Institutes RiskStream Collaborative™, the risk management and insurance industry’s largest enterprise-level blockchain consortium, has announced proof-of-concept completion of the Mortality Monitor application, which will help carriers close out and process death benefits and claims more efficiently.

Providing a single source for decedent information and allowing the secure and permission-based exchange of this data among RiskStream Collaborative member companies, Mortality Monitor sets the stage for a large-scale decentralized death registry. The RiskStream Collaborative partnered with Kaleido to leverage their blockchain services and develop the application, which serves as RiskStream’s first life and annuity-based distributed ledger proof-of-concept.

“We are living through unprecedented times with the outbreak of COVID-19. Timely closure of life insurance and annuity claims has never been more important and remains an ongoing challenge, as verification and validation of death claims requires carriers to have comprehensive decedent information, but no one source has emerged to fill this need,” said Christopher McDaniel, president of the RiskStream Collaborative. “The Mortality Monitor solution makes inefficient manual processes obsolete by sharing decedent information securely, in real-time, and with transparency and traceability.”

The proof-of-concept efforts emphasized Mortality Monitor’s ability to securely share death data amongst the network of participants. It represents the first project to advance through RiskStream Labs, a framework established by the RiskStream Collaborative that’s focused on accelerating completion of blockchain-centered innovations through participation from both member and nonmember organizations. The application gained initial support from Nationwide, Prudential, and Securian Financial—member organizations of the RiskStream Collaborative that participated in the proof-of-concept endeavor.

“The Mortality Monitor proof-of-concept shortens the response time from date of death to notification of beneficiary, thus improving the beneficiary’s experience while reducing time, cost, and risk to the insurer,” said Eric Henderson, President of Nationwide Annuity and chair of the Life & Annuity Advisory Board. “Nationwide is committed to driving digital innovation and is pleased to be part of this important work to help shape the future of claims processing for the life and annuity industries.”

“This proof of concept is a prime example of how we are leading through technology innovation, and for Prudential, it is all about protecting the safety, security, and privacy for our customers during what can be a particularly challenging time. We are a socially responsible organization and believe it’s important to protect our customers. We are excited that our participation in the consortium allows us to invest in solutions that solve real-life challenges in our industry,” said Bob Bastian, CIO Global Technology, Individual Solutions Group at Prudential and Vice Chair of the Life & Annuity Advisory Board. “The Mortality Monitor use case illustrates how blockchain can be applied to enhance customer-centricity and drive innovation.”

“This progress is exciting to see and only a starting point for the innovation this consortium will bring to the industry. We see a great opportunity to build a “single source of truth” in the industry using blockchain technology to better serve our customers and their loved ones while protecting their personal data. Prudential is proud to be a founding member of the consortium and to partner together with innovative leaders to provide new solutions that are secure and lead to better outcomes for our customers,” said Anindya Sengupta, Vice President, Business Development, Emerging Technology Solutions at Prudential.

“Customers entrust life insurers to care for their loved ones if something happens,” said Brian Oberman, Innovation Lab Director at Securian Financial. “Often times, a death benefit claim is the first experience loved ones have with a life insurer. The Mortality Monitor™ application helps us support our commitment to provide an excellent customer experience at a time of grief. We’re proud to be a member of the RiskStream Collaborative.”

The RiskStream Collaborative operates in property casualty, reinsurance and life & annuities. Its life & annuities (L&A) sector was born in collaboration with LIMRA, a research and professional development trade association for the financial services industry, which continues to serve in an advisory capacity to the L&A consortium. RiskStream aims to expand its network of members and connect insurance-oriented organizations to create greater efficiencies and achieve growth opportunities through blockchain innovations. The focus for Q4 2020 is to conduct a viability study to analyze and quantify the overlap of claims across carriers for the Life, Annuity, and Retirement sectors.

“The Mortality Monitor™ application demonstrates industry-leading innovative technology that optimizes the claims process. This allows carriers to proactively service beneficiaries and ensure a seamless, and stress-free experience,” said Patrick Schmid, vice president of the RiskStream Collaborative. “Carriers that wish to gain access to the Mortality Monitor™ application, expand their technical knowledge, and collaborate with leading carriers can still join the Mortality Monitor Working Group in RiskStream Labs through the end of the year.”