The Blockchain Insurance Initiative (B3i), launched a couple of months ago, plans to announce a number of new members in the forthcoming weeks, Reuters ​reported.

Aegon, Allianz, Munich Re, Swiss Re and Zurich came together to launch the initiative in October 2016, aiming to explore the potential of distributed ledger technologies to better serve clients through faster, more convenient and secure services. The initiative particularly aims to help insurers and reinsurers to get a better insight into the applicability of the blockchain technology in the insurance market.

"It's significantly enlarged and truly international in scope — all the way from Asia through to the Americas," Paul Meeusen, who leads the B3i project at Swiss Re, told Reuters on the sidelines of a blockchain conference.

Meeusen said that the consortium will start testing its database in eight weeks and results will be presented mid-June. If successful, the group could create an organization by 2018 for managing contracts and claims.

He further said that tough market conditions and a lack of industry-wide data standards are driving B3i's work.

"If we don't move, it could well be that technology companies will move, and they will start offering insurance," Meeusen said. "If the growth is going to come from high-growth markets, we start realizing that pushing the old machinery into the new markets may not work. We have to reinvent ourselves, our processes and the customer experience."

German insurance giant and consortium member Allianz, in collaboration with Bermuda-based investment management firm Nephila Capital Limited, successfully piloted the use of blockchain smart contract technology for transacting a natural catastrophe swap in June 2016.