13-Hour Sprint: Ant Financial’s “Medical Staff Guarantee Fund” Project During COVID‑19

At the end of January 2020, as COVID‑19 dominated media coverage, a call circulated for insurance or corporate support for frontline medical staff. In response, Ant Financial engineers quickly created the “Medical Staff Guarantee Fund” service on Alipay, allowing healthcare workers to claim a free health‑insurance supplement in under a minute.

The project was initiated on the afternoon of Chinese New Year’s second day (January 26) with a virtual team of over 50 members from multiple Ant Financial departments. Technical lead Yu Chai defined the overall solution, front‑end expert Peng Cheng built the claim page, and senior experience designer Qing Cang designed the interaction flow to ensure rapid comprehension by medical personnel.

From kickoff at 13:00 to full release at 02:00 the next day, the entire lifecycle—requirement clarification, development, testing, pre‑release, and production—took roughly 13 hours. Frequent communication, decisive approvals, and a culture of “I’ll solve it” enabled the team to meet tight timelines despite the lockdown.

Individual stories illustrate the dedication: tester Yuan Yi, despite personal travel difficulties, joined the project and flawlessly handled testing; Peng Cheng drove home, turned around, and worked continuously; designer Qing Cang balanced family commitments while contributing to design work. Their collective effort exemplified the “each person steps forward” mindset.

Team members expressed pride in supporting medical workers through technology, emphasizing that while they could not treat patients directly, they could provide essential financial protection. The rapid delivery demonstrated Ant Financial’s ability to mobilize resources swiftly in crisis situations, highlighting effective R&D management and product delivery practices.