Alibaba is now using Apple’s handy Touch ID function on newer iPhones to allow payments via the e-commerce giant’s Alipay system.

To make payments via Alipay, China’s largest online payments system akin to PayPal in the United States, users simply need to scan their fingerprint using the phone’s built in sensor. The feature comes with Alipay 8.4 but is only available on iPhone models that have Touch ID, which includes the iPhone 5S models or the newest iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Alipay has assured consumers that all fingerprint information will be stored in the phone, and not uploaded and shared with third-parties.

Apple is also rumored to be working with Alipay on enabling Apple Pay in China.

Photos: Kuaixun, Techweb

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Chinese online payment system Alipay is spreading its wings far beyond China. The popular payment platform is now available down under.

The Alipay subsidiary, appropriately titled Alipay Australia, follows the recent launch of the company’s ePay Payment Program in the US, reports China Daily.

In conjunction with the Australian Postal Department, Alipay will provide access at 4,400 Australian stores and outlets. The local presence will give Australian consumers access to TMall and Taobao, and facilitate cross-border e-commerce. The joint agreement is expected to help Australian companies quickly expand into Chinese markets.

According to Forbes, Alipay is the largest mobile payment processor in the world, clearing approximately 80 million transactions per day, and processed US $780 billion worth of transactions in the year ended June 30.

Alipay is owned by Alibaba, which listed this year on the New York Stock Exchange.

Photo: China Daily

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Alibaba has initiated a pilot program called “Future Hospital” at the Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center, the first such place in China that allows patients to pay for medical services through online accounts, reports China Daily.

By paying fees with a smartphone, Alibaba claims the length of an entire procedure can be reduced from five hours at peak times to one. On its first day of implementation, 580 people used the service at Future Hospital.

However, this is just the beginning of Alibaba’s ambition to reform hospital service in China as the e-commerce giant hopes to “use Alipay’s payment, user data, and big data capabilities to build a comprehensive mobile medical care and health management platform,” reports Tech President.

Technode outlines Alibaba’s huge ambitions:

Zhang Jiangang, an exec at Alifinance, mentioned that in the next 5-10 years, in order to implement phase two of the said plan, Alipay will establish a comprehensive online platform to allow virtually mobile prescription, medicine delivery, hospital transfer, medical care insurance reimbursement, commercial insurance as well as damage claims, as part of the improvement of healthcare reform in China…
“This is a long term plan to realize the shift from cure to prevention,” Zhang said.

Alibaba-owned Taobao had previously attempted to offer a free hospital appointment-booking service in several Chinese provinces only to be blocked in Beijing, where a competing service is offered by the Beijing Health Department.

Alibaba recently purchased a 50% share in the Guangzhou Evergrande football team, the other of Alibaba founder Jack Ma’s projects:

“We’re not investing in football, we’re investing in entertainment. Alibaba’s future strategies are health and entertainment.”

Photo: Gansu Daily

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The city is installing five inch LED screens in taxis that will show your location on a map using GPS, and perhaps most importantly allow for multiple payment options. That’s right, soon you can pay for your taxi using your Shenzhen Tong travel card, Unionpay, or even Alipay account.

The device will also have other features to assist the driver, such as call centre alerts. At the moment, taxi drivers need to pick up their phones to answer phone calls from the call centre, which isn’t always safe to do. To cut down on the chance of an accident, the driver can now just press a button on the screen to call back or answer phone calls.

There are about 16,000 taxis roaming the city’s streets, and all of them are slated to receive the new device by the summer.

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