The Alibaba Group has partnered with the China Minsheng Banking Corp Ltd to provide financial services ranging from wealth-management products, credit-card operations, and electronic banking. Minsheng is China’s seventh-largest listed bank, and the largest of those that are not state-controlled.
According to Minsheng’s securities filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, direct banking accounts of its customers can now be linked with accounts under Alibaba’s online payment subsidiary, Alipay. Alibaba has previously signed similar agreements with other Chinese banks including the Bank of China and the China Construction Bank Corp (CCB). Alibaba has been offering micro-loans and money management services to small and medium-sized enterprises since 2010.
Separately, another Chinese Internet company, Tencent Holdings, has applied for a private banking license in China. The company owns a similar financial services operation to Alibaba in its Tenpay online payment system. Tencent’s application is currently being assessed by the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) for final approval.
Source: Business Strategies Group
