German insurance group Allianz and Deutsche Bank have partnered with Berlin-based car exchange Auto1 to create ‘Auto 1 Fintech’ to offer auto financing using blockchain.
The new company plans to offer insurance products and loan refinancing for dealerships that buy their cars from Auto1, a company which claims to offers premium partners more than 40,000 inspected used cars with more than 3,000 additional cars coming online each day.
Backed by Softcorp group, the loan payment and refinancing confirmations will be recorded on a blockchain, allowing dealerships to immediately refinance their purchases, saving two weeks using their current paper methods.
Auto1 hopes that the new blockchain platform will help the company diversify its offerings and promote customer loyalty. CEO Hakan Koc suggests that the new process is “… freeing capital and our customers are more liquid as a result. It’s a win-win”.
Auto1 is hoping to become Germany’s major used car platform, and also expand in other EU countries such as France and Poland later this year. Earlier this year, SoftBank’s Vision Fund invested EUR 460 million (USD 540 million) in Auto1, valuing the company at about EUR 2.9 billion (USD 3.4 billion).
Blockchain is increasingly making an impression with an apparent myriad of applications within the automotive industry. US carmaker Ford earlier received a patent for its Cooperatively Managed Merge and Pass System (CMMP) designed to evaluate driver behavior and to improve coordination by drivers on the road by communicating with each other aided by blockchain technology.
The company, carVertical, has developed a platform for used car history reports enabling users to verify details of a car’s past before making a purchase. The autonomous car industry, once thought of as futuristic, is now increasingly looking to blockchain solutions. Apps preventing congestion by updating routes and feeding data to third parties to increase response time to emergency services are just some of the applications created through blockchain the industry today.
Daimler AG, the auto giant behind Mercedes-Benz, launched a blockchain-based program to reward eco-friendly driving. Drivers who practice environmentally-friendly driving habits will receive MobiCoins, which they can then exchange for VIP tickets to events and other rewards, according to Cointelegraph.
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