Auto Insurer Metromile to Pay Out Claims in Bitcoin

By Liam Frost

Metromile, a San Francisco-based pay-per-mile auto insurance firm, will “soon” begin accepting insurance premiums and paying out claims in Bitcoin.

According to an announcement published today, policyholders will be able to choose whether they want to pay for services and receive payments for approved claims in familiar US dollars or BTC.

“Metromile gives drivers control over how they want to pay for insurance. We started by giving drivers an opportunity to save 47% a year by paying per mile, and now we want to offer people the flexibility to pay and be paid how they want," said Metromile CEO Dan Preston.

Keeping up with the times

To this end, Metromile itself plans to buy $10 million worth of Bitcoin sometime in the second quarter of 2021, in order to begin adopting the cryptocurrency. The company noted that as digital assets are rapidly becoming mainstream, the addition of Bitcoin payments should “promote financial resilience” for its customers.

“We believe that offering Bitcoin as an option for premium and claims payments would be an important first step. Technology has always led our work at Metromile, and the rapid change in financial infrastructure being realized now must be embraced as we chart our course for the decades ahead,” Preston added.

Metromile offers its customers personalized car insurance policies that take actual mileage into account—instead of industry-standard approximations “that have historically made prices unfair,” the company stated. Thanks to this model, policyholders can ostensibly save up to 47% per year compared to traditional insurance firms.

Bitcoin adoption revs up

As the crypto market continues its bull run, a growing number of firms are accepting Bitcoin payments. EV manufacturer Tesla made headlines when it announced that it would introduce a Bitcoin payment option for its cars, but companies across the globe are now adopting Bitcoin for their products and services. 

In late March, for example, Canadian fintech firm Mogo extended its Bitcoin cashback rewards program to include mortgages, while last week, Argentinian marketplace Mercado Libre also added support for Bitcoin payments for real estate. And if you're feeling particularly flush, you can even buy London's most expensive property with Bitcoin.

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