Blockchain to make relief donations tamper-proof
Alipay, China’s third-party online payment platform operated by Ant Financial, has added blockchain technology to its donation section in a bid to ensure more transparency in charity donations.
This allows a record to be kept of donations made by Alipay users to charities through its “Ant Love” platform, and enables both donors and charities to develop greater insight into how funds are being handled, the company said.
The technology will make it tougher to alter records, which the firm hopes will improve accountability.
“We hope to bring more transparency to charity donations. The decentralized nature of blockchain fits that purpose well. It means that all the transaction history of funds will be more reliable and tamperproof,” said Cheng Li, Ant Financial’s chief technology officer.
Charitable donations in China have jumped more than tenfold in the past decade to 110.8 billion yuan ($16.1 billion) in 2015, according to a report by the China Charity Alliance. But the sector has been plagued by scan- dals related to the mismanagement of funds.
To tackle this, the company launched the “Ant Love” initiative, which has connected its 450 million users with more than 1,000 public welfare institutions across the country.
When making a donation, Alipay users may click on the Donation Record button to view the donor plus the amount and time of the donation.
The “Say Goodbye to Aplastic Anemia” charity is the first to use this initiative in partnership with the Chi- nese Red Cross Foundation. The money collected will be used to cover treatment of children hit by the disease.
“We are proud to be a part of this blockchain-based charity project, and we are happy to be involved in this technological revolution,” said Hu Ling, director of crowdfunding at CRCF.
Blockchain technology allows parties to carry out direct transactions without using an intermediary. It does so by providing a means for people to share reliable and tamper-proof lists of information known as distributed ledgers. The World Economic Forum has projected that assets worth 10 percent of global gross domestic product could be stored using blockchains in 2027.
According to Zhao Zunkui, a senior architect of Ant Financial, the company is extending the technology so that it can provide credible databases, credible money transfers and trusted asset transactions.
As the largest online payment processor in China, Alipay accounted for more than 60 percent of the market share, according to consultant Counterpoint. Users can also pay utility bills, book film tickets and order taxis via the app.
“We are proud to be a part of this blockchain-based charity project, and we are happy to be involved in this technological revolution.” Hu Ling, director of crowdfunding at CRCF