News this week: 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.
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