The Institutes RiskStream Collaborative® Launches Second Surety Bond Lab

The Institutes RiskStream Collaborative®, the risk management and insurance industry’s largest enterprise-level blockchain consortium announced plans to advance its international efforts on the Surety Bonds Power of Attorney use case and launch a new lab for the Surety industry. The new Bond Signature and Verification lab will launch in the fall of 2021, while a proof-of-concept for the existing Surety Bonds Power of Attorney Verification Lab will advance.

“The surety industry is known for multi-party data verifications and exchanges between the principal, obligee and surety. Blockchain technology offers a potential solution to some of the pain points within these multi-party workflows,” said Patrick Schmid, vice president of the RiskStream Collaborative. “The power of attorney use case was the logical starting point and we’re excited to advance it forward. We are also excited that it will lead to many more downstream use cases, including Bond Signature and Verification.”

Each working group will continue to be facilitated by RiskStream Labs, a blockchain innovation hub designed to accelerate innovation across various sectors. RiskStream’s Surety initiative has continued support from international surety associations, including The International Credit Insurance & Surety Association (ICISA), the Surety & Fidelity Association of America (SFAA), the National Association of Surety Bond Producers (NASBP), the Surety Association of Canada (SAC), and the Pan American Surety Association (PASA). In addition to the involvement of various surety associations, RiskStream members (carriers, producers, and reinsurers), non-members and other key industry players have all been involved in the early portions of the Surety Labs.

Although the work to-date positions the Surety Bonds Power of Attorney Verification use case to advance to a proof-of-concept phase, it is simply just the beginning for the surety industry. Enabling the bond signature and verification real-time is an important aspect to the overall solution, greatly reducing the time, cost and risk.

“Bond Verification via Blockchain is the true “end game” of interest to all stakeholders in the surety bond process globally” said Greg Davenport, chair of ICISA’s Surety Blockchain Working Group. “RiskStream’s acceleration of the Bond Verification phase also allows us to bring obligees early into the design conversations, as they are the ultimate beneficiaries of the global solution we are undertaking.”

The collaboration and participation in the Surety Bonds – Power of Attorney Verification working group appears to show the industry is ready for transformation. We are actively recruiting and onboarding companies for both working groups. To participate or learn more contact RiskStreamCollaborative@theinstitutes.org.

“The global surety industry and RiskStream came together to create an innovative approach that will streamline the surety bond process, RiskStream is committed to supporting the surety industry, and bringing together motivated organizations to create applications while leveraging Canopy 3.0.” comments Bill Keogh, Non Executive Chair, RiskStream Collaborative. “Canopy 3.0 and its new capabilities of blockchain-based tools, technologies and services provides a lot of flexibility for the insurance industry while reducing development complexity.”

About The Institutes RiskStream Collaborative®

The Institutes RiskStream Collaborative® is the risk management and insurance industry’s first enterprise-level blockchain consortium that brings together experts and developers to advance insurance-specific use cases via Canopy, a custom blockchain architecture running on Kaleido's digital transformation platform. The RiskStream Collaborative is committed to equipping organizations to work together to inspire product innovation, enable efficiencies, and open new technological frontiers

Interested in other Riskstream projects? Learn more about Mortality Monitor.