Bankcard companies target nation's medical sector

To tap into the growing demand for healthcare and medical services, bankcard associations and payment services providers have recently launched a wide range of services and prestige packages for consumers, throwing in perks such as better access to hospitals, dentists and skin clinics, getting priority in postpartum care centers, and getting fast-tracked when making appointments with doctors in top hospitals.

Chinese consumers' demands for healthcare and medical services have been expanding fast, particularly through internet-based and mobile channels. A research report by the Boston Consulting Group released last September said that the digitized medical services market will reach a size of some 700 billion yuan by 2020.

Medical service providers said that the innovative payment services offered will help simplify the many steps required by patients to pay for their medical examination and medication. Gao Xin, deputy head of Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, said that a mobile phone application that enables users to make appointments quickly and pay bills using China UnionPay accounts have indeed made seeing a doctor much easier for patients.