On Tuesday, Hong Kong based insurance firm, Blue Cross, announced becoming the first in the city to use blockchain in order to advance medical insurance claims and avoid scams, adding that the new technology will assist the company in cutting costs.

Bowtie Insurance, HSBC Life and Rivals Prudent have begun selling insurance products and handling insurance claims online during the past year, however, they haven’t yet started using blockchain for processing.

An online insurer from Hong Kong makes use of blockchain in order to process claims and verify records. Yet, it only offers the following services on the mainland.

The managing director of Blue Cross, Patrick Wan, during the launch of the firm’s two new products said that with the use of blockchain technology, the danger of scams is eradicated and insurance claims can now be processed so much faster for the customers. Wan also added that Blue Cross will cut expenditures as a result of the use of Blockchain technology, however, he didn’t provide detailed information saying that the company spent 10-20% more in the past.

Buying health insurance is encouraged by the country’s government by reducing up to US$1,020 in tax every year.

William Yeung, the co-founder of a Hong Kong start-up that develops blockchain-based medical apps, said “The proficiency and advantages of blockchain will attract many doctors to Blue Cross”.

The insurance firm is owned by Bank of East Asia, since it bought out Aetna Group’s stake in 1999.