A new blockchain report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has revealed that blockchain technology could save reinsurance industry with the potential to save $5-10 billion in costs.

The report titled ‘Blockchain: The $5 billion opportunity for reinsurers’ showed that the distributed ledger technology has huge potential to transform the reinsurance industry, given the volume  of data flowing between clients, brokers, reinsurers and outsource service providers, said the official release.

“Blockchain technology is still a new and uncertain area for reinsurers but those who are able to quickly build, assess and refine their applications will differentiate themselves. At a time when companies are searching for cost savings, the potential of blockchain to vastly improve efficiency and accuracy cannot be ignored,” Stephen O’Hearn, global insurance leader of PwC said.

The report has estimated that blockchain solutions will remove15-20% of expenses from the reinsurance industry and delivers $5-10 billion of savings, by simplifying reconciliation and multiple data entries. Also, blockchain could speed up the claims processing verification.

The potentials of blockchain in reinsurance industry include using blockchain in processing to remove duplication of tasks; new businesses and transparency. The distributed ledger technology can also allow primary insurers cede/retrocede risk using a specifically designed application to process premium and commission payments.

“We believe it’s important to show that blockchain applications not only work but provide the right solutions to important business problems,” the release stated.