Large hospitals in Beijing are allowing customers to settle their bills through Alipay.
According to Chinese news site TechWeb, a few hospitals are connecting their appointment, examination, and payment infrastructure to Alipay. This means patients can use the service not only to pay bills, but also to make appointments, get test results, and give feedback on the services they received.
The pilot program has seen a few large hospitals jump on board, and others are likely to follow in the future. The move is just one of a few major developments in connecting mobile payments to everyday life in China.
In Shanghai and Beijing, the city government has already connected to mobile messaging and payment platforms to allow users to do all sorts of things, from settle parking tickets to paying real estate taxes to getting up-to-date information on government services.
While many pundits have been pointing at a rift between the Chinese government and e-commerce mega-giant Alibaba over counterfeit goods, the two have been closely working together when it comes to Alipay.
The mobile payment service has not only been adopted by big cities and big hospitals, but big supermarkets and convenience store chains Carrefour and CR Vanguard are also getting on board. Alipay will be available in over 5,000 shops throughout China by the end of 2015, according to Sina Tech.