Alipay’s Parent Company Gets Online Private Bank Approval

Small and Micro Financial Services Company (SMFSC), parent company of Alipay and financial arm of Alibaba Group, has been given official approval by the China Banking Regulatory Commission to set up a private bank.

The bank is named “Zhejiang Online Commercial Bank” (not official translation), with SMFSC owning a 30% stake and the other three shareholders holding the remainder.

It will be an Internet-based commercial bank and the target customers are end-users and small-and-micro businesses on e-commerce platforms. The bank won’t receive a deposit more than RMB200, 000 (about US$33,000) or make a loan more than RMB5 million (less than US$1mn), according to SMFSC.

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