# Model to Program and Blockchain Approaches for Business Processes and Workflows in Finance
## 3 Research Questions in the Context of Information Systems
#### Case Studies
* _Smart contracts_, or better computer protocols, embedding the contractual obligations into a source code that is compiled and executed per terms and conditions specified in the contract. It relies on the distributed ledger architecture of a blockchain to create the smart contract. Therefore the smart contract can control its states and assets, and it can respond to the input of external information. Smart contracts can be fully self-enforcing [61]. * _Customer loss history_, estimating the insurance policy quote is based on a complex risk assessment process, in which companies must analyze customer's loss history, a process that allows the insurance companies to correlate past behavior to risk [62]. This process can be long and painful for all parties involved. Therefore, some first claims sharing platforms, based on blockchain, can provide any company with the opportunity to keep records of claims/losses in one place, in which the credibility of claims is validated by a blockchain technology [63]. * _Regulatory compliance_ Financial institutions are highly regulated and hierarchical organizations, where multi-stakeholders views usually are required to implement such systems. Regulatory compliance projects can be another example for cases where the application of blockchain may significantly improve operations, and such implementation can lead to big operation improvements in terms of audit issues or possible risks coming from failing to comply with regulation [64]. * _Claims processes_ A typical claim process starts with an insurer asking to assess the loss or the damage of the insured person or company. Different solutions have been devised already in this respect, in terms of automated claims setting, where already based on past data, the company can fully automatize claim report and their response to them. Insurance companies, therefore, execute and automate decisions to the greatest extent possible, such as whether the insurance company should pay the claim, which is approved by a staff member is later only without the manager's meddling [65]. Other use can be for the aim of offering digital identities related services for financial companies [66], as well as for improved security as solutions based on blockchain bring transparency [67]. To understand the relevance of use cases from an insurance perspective, we can distinguish three cases categories in respect to the potential they hold from a business point of view to the company [68]:  
* Evolutionary, cases where there already exist solutions, without blockchain, and the stakeholders and markets have solutions, and thus blockchains only optimize existing offer, support, and operations. * Transformative, insurance users are served in a new way, in new context, the business operations models are created, and thus this means that insurers add new innovative offerings to their pallet of products and services. * Disruptive, cases that lead to the creation of new users and new ways of doing business for the insurers (thus also new business models for insurers and new ways of doing business). The biggest challenges for implementation relate to the effect on the social and business network. The issue is what is required to make the distributed ledger technology work in the different scenarios. For the specific solutions to work, there needs to be adherence to several institutional regulations. The second challenge is that the literature doesn't discuss yet is how value creation and value capturing will be realized through these solutions for the companies, this will be, according to many scholars, the next obstacle to solving indeed.