On Thursday, China’s Ministry of Commerce issued directions on how to control the Coronavirus at work. One of the recommendations was to encourage card and mobile payments. At the same time, Ant Financial the owner of Alipay has a blockchain-based mutual aid platform Xiang Hu Bao which provides health payouts for 100 types of critical illnesses. Ant Financial has added the Coronavirus, and will cover this illness out of its own funds, according to the South China Morning Post.
We’ve previously written about Ant Financial’s mutual aid blockchain platform Xiang Hu Bao. It doesn’t require upfront financial payments, covers 100 critical illnesses, and has more than 100 million members. While it’s not allowed to claim it’s an insurance platform, it is similar to old fashioned mutual insurance where the risk is spread amongst the members. Because people contribute funds depending on claims, initially, Ant capped the member exposure in 2019 to 188 RMB ($26). Actual payouts for 2019 were 29 RMB ($4.06) [updated from estimate of 30 RMB], but there is no cap for 2020.
The South China Morning Post, owned by Ant affiliate Alibaba, says that Ant Financial added the Coronavirus as an illness eligible for a maximum one-time payout of 100,000 RMB (US$14,320). The app is available on Ant’s mobile payment service Alipay and speeds up settlement.
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