Red Cross Partners with YeePay on China Earthquake Relief
BEIJING, June 20 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- The Red Cross Society of Beijing partnered with YeePay, a leading payment service provider in China, to launch an online donation website immediately after a major earthquake hit China on May 12. Within one month, YeePay has raised more than 18M RMB ($2.6M) through online donations. This has been the largest amount raised by an independent payment provider in China and YeePay has become one of the top three sites for online donations.
(Logo: http://www.prnasia.com/sa/200704052051.jpg )
On May 12, a Magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck Southwestern China in Sichuan province, hundreds of aftershocks followed in the same area. The quake was the deadliest and strongest to hit China in 30 years. The official death toll has reached 69,176, with 374,142 injured and 17,414 still listed as missing. At least 5 million people were left homeless with massive damage of properties and houses in the quake zone. The shock was felt across most of the nation physically and psychologically. China declared May 19-21 as the national mourning days for the victims who died in this devastating disaster.
The Internet has played a unique role in the aftermath of the earthquake. Many people rely on the web to get the first-hand news on the quake and the latest updates on casualties. All major Internet portals and search sites have sections dedicated to reporting the disaster. Video sharing sites, discussion boards and newsgroups are flooded with quake related contents. People use instant messengers to communicate with friends and families in the quake zone, some even try to search for the missing ones using the Internet. According to a DCCI (Data Center of the China Internet) report, traffic to major news websites surged 151.2% in the 10 days immediately after the earthquake.
In addition to being an information-sharing platform, Internet has also become a major channel for collecting donations. Traditionally charity donations in China were collected through more old-fashioned ways and relied heavily on big corporations, celebrities and the rich and famous; but many agree that the future of charity cause has to be more grass-root and depend on the every citizen. Internet can bridge the gap by empowering the people. With 230 million users, China has already become the world’s largest Internet population, and for more than 110 million online banking users, making a donation through online payment is just a few clicks away. Some experts have coined this Internet driven, bottom-up trend as the coming age of “Charity 2.0”.
Commenting on the partnership with YeePay, Executive Vice President of Beijing Red Cross Lu Han said, “We had been working with YeePay to provide a reliable, easy-to-access online donation platform long before the earthquake, this enabled us to respond immediately after the disaster. In this difficult time, it is a consolation to see that so many individuals are willing to make a contribution through online donation, each donation might be small, but the Internet has the power to activate millions of people.”
YeePay’s CEO Bin Tang said, “Online payment not only makes donations easier, but also more transparent and auditable. Internet is not only a platform for information and e-commerce, but also a platform to promote humanitarian ideals. We are very proud to be part of the earthquake relief efforts and we strongly believe online payment will help drive the future of charity cause in China.”
About YeePay
YeePay is a leading e-payment service provider in China, with a mission to provide better e-payment solutions and value-added financial services through technology and innovation. Headquartered in Beijing, China, YeePay also has branch offices in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Shenzhen. As the first company in China to provide a single platform integrating both online and offline electronic payments, YeePay’s innovative solutions enable consumers and businesses to make and receive payments over the Internet, mobile and telephone securely, conveniently and cost effectively. YeePay has formed strategic partnerships with major banks in China. YeePay’s customers include leading Internet companies and ecommerce websites as well as many merchants in traditional industries, such as EachNet, Baidu, TOM Online, Shanda, KingSoft, DangDang, eLong, Shenzhen Airlines and China Unicom. YeePay was recognized as the "Best Payment Platform" by the China eCommerce Association and one of the "China Internet 100 Companies/Top 50 Innovators" by the China Internet Society.
For more information about YeePay, please visit www.yeepay.com .
For more information, please contact:
Chen Yu
YeePay.com
Tel: +86-10-6561-0168 x136
Cell: +86-137-0111-0519
Fax: +86-10-6561-0167
Email: cyu@yeepay.com