BEIJING - As online payment platforms grow in popularity, they have become a new way to make charitable donations in China.

Third-party online payment services are being widely used because they make donations more convenient, more transparent and quicker.

On Tenpay.com, one of the largest online payment services in China, about 6.5 million yuan ($951,886) had been donated to Yushu by May 20, which was hit by an earthquake last month.

Qing Qing, a 28-year-old journalist in Beijing, donated 200 yuan online to a charity organization for the earthquake victims.

"It's easier for me to donate online since I don't have to wait in a long queue in the bank," she said.

Compared with remitting money at banks, post offices and donation centers, online payments save people time and energy and can reach a much larger population.

"It (online payment) has lowered the threshold for people to donate and in this way assists most people to do good," said Ray Chen, head of the public relations department of Alipay.com Co Ltd, an online payment platform in China.

On Alipay's donation page for Yunnan province's drought, money donated and where it was used is clearly detailed to ensure a transparent donation process.

Apart from third-party online payment platforms, Internet portals and charity organizations have also added online payment functions to their own sites.

China's biggest offline e-payment service, Lakala.com Inc, is also in talks with several charity organizations to enable donations through its e-payment terminals, according to Sun Taoran, chief executive officer of the company.

He said donations could be made to specific organizations simply by swiping a credit card on a terminal.