(Yicai Global) Jan. 15 -- Alipay, one of China's largest mobile payment platforms, has joined hands with the Beijing Municipal Administration of Prisons to build a payment system for prisons in the Chinese capital, by which relatives can send money to prisoners to cover their daily expenses.

Relatives can send up to CNY1,000 (USD147.80) each time to prisoners' online accounts by mobile phone after real-name authentication, according to a press release posted on the website of the BMAP at the end of December. It added that money can only be sent once a month, and the account balance can't exceed CNY5,000.

The payment system also connects with shopping, electronic commerce, medical and other smart systems in prison, allowing for online payment and real-time checkout.

The BMAP has also negotiated with Ant Financial, the parent company of Alipay, to eliminate the service charge for deposits made by relatives. Users generally need to pay a small fee when they withdraw or deposit money through Alipay, which serves more than 100 million customers every day.