AXA, the French insurance giant, is currently using the Ethereum blockchain to offer passengers insurance. Ethereum blockchain stores the data and automatically processes the payment in case of an insured event.
Snow, lightning strike or aliens
The insurance service called "fizzy" is marketed on the website as fresh, new and transparent insurance. If you catch a flight more than two hours late, you will receive compensation.
The reason for the delay is not important - as described on the website, it can be "snow, lightning or aliens".
The Ethereum Blockchain plays an active role in this insurance: before a user starts a flight, he can book the Fizzy Insurance. Currently, this is only possible for flights between Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle airport and all transatlantic flights to the USA. But by 2018 all other flights worldwide will be added.
The possible insurance proceeds are displayed when the insurance is concluded. With the help of Ethereum Smart Contracts, everything happens automatically after completion. If the waiting time of two hours has been exceeded, the Smart Contract is triggered, which in turn prepares the payment to the customer. AXA's main aim is to make insurance business more transparent.
Fizzy is currently still in beta, but is already available for users. In the future, AXA intends to transfer further applications in Smart Contracts and the Blockchain.
The statement from Jean-Baptiste Mounier from AXA should come as a special surprise to crypto enthusiasts:
In the future, we want to introduce payments and indemnities into Ether so that we can ensure full confidence in programmed indemnity payments (and so that the insurer does not trick the customer, which is still a source of uncertainty for many customers)," said Mounier.
