Online Insurance Company Zhong An Rolled Out First Product Zhonglebao

Zhong An, the first online insurance company jointly launched by Alibaba, Tencent, and Ping An, has launched its first product Zhonglebao, a service focused on merchants on Alibaba’s e-commerce site Taobao. Zhonglebao was on sale from December 5 (report in Chinese).

Taobao previously required all Taobao retailers to pay 1,000 yuan to 10,000 yuan of consumer protection deposit to ensure that consumers will receive product reimbursement when they are dissatisfied with products.

In case of a dispute, Zhonglebao will compensate the buyer first on behalf of the merchants and then charge them latter. Zhonglebao is priced at 1.8 percent of the deposit requirement for half a year and 3 percent for one year.

Zhonglebao enables Taobao retailers to free part of the money locked in the deposit and apply them to daily operation. While most of the retailers on Taobao are small companies, this product will help them to increase capital liquidity.