Streamlined operations and easier payouts are only some of the benefits that blockchain could bring to the pension planning industry.

So says an Investopedia report, which points out that although the retirement services industry has estimated total pension assets of $19.1 trillion in the U.S., the fact that it’s still reliant on data silos and Excel spreadsheets means that inefficiencies are built into the system. Blockchain, it says, “could streamline operations and make it easier for pension account planners and holders to manage payouts.”

A paper by consulting firm Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has further highlighted possible use cases for blockchain, among which are both standard and unconventional uses of the technology. Not only could it be used for such workaday tasks as record management and planning documents, but also for tracking expenditures for pension account holders who have taken out loans or even for developing custom pension coins (similar to the cryptocurrency bitcoin) for desired behavior from participants.