Allianz explores token for internal use
An internal token would assist in eliminating foreign exchange constraints and optimize other endeavors.
Global insurance company Allianz is reportedly working on an internal digital token that can be used to move money in-house, avoiding external bank fees, currency conversions and other financial impediments.
CoinDesk reports that the insurer is developing an “Allianz token”, according to blockchain expert Oliver Volk.
“We are thinking about a kind of Allianz token whereby money coming in will be converted to a token,” Volk told CoinDesk. “But it’s a very big animal and we don’t know what kind of regulatory constraints there are.”
Volk is Allianz’ reinsurance unit digital ledger expert and the company’s B3i consortium representative.
Volk added that an internal token would assist in eliminating foreign exchange constraints and go a long way towards optimizing other areas of the conglomerates’ business, particularly reconverting unwanted currencies.
The implementation of an in-house token would also save an immense amount in banking commissions and could be used globally, across at least 100 countries, to transfer funds from different offices Allianz operates in.
Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (ACGS), the insurer’s business-to-business service has taken the lead on the token project. CoinDesk revealed that the idea stemmed from a captive insurance blockchain enterprise.
Allianz AGCS innovation program manager for central and eastern Europe Alan Cabello said the idea originated from a previous prototype constructed to assist one reinsurance company to provide services to another.
“It’s essentially about the legal way of moving money from one side of the world to the other,” Cabello said.
The process can be incredibly time-consuming and can go beyond the two or three days it takes for a bank transfer to be processed. Cabello added that every big company and major industry share these inefficiencies.
Allianz’ corporate team discovered that in one instance, over 2,000 emails were sent for one funds transfer.
The AGCS team has been working on a digital token for months. Cabello stressed that it has nothing to do with cryptocurrency and that the “Allianz token” is “pegged to the dollar” in order to maintain financial stability.
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