Alibaba’s finance subsidiary Ant Financial will launch the new ‘Alibaba bank’ online in two months.
Reuters reports the bank, to be named MyBank, will make its online debut in June, directly competing not only with rival eCommerce Giant’s Tencent’s WeBank, but with traditional Chinese bricks and mortar bank networks.
The launch date was revealed by Yuan Leiming, GM of Ant Financial’s finance division, during an interview with Reuters.
WeBank commenced trial trading in January in advance of a staged rollout.
MyBank acquired regulatory approvals last year and the resulting business will be a partnership between Alibaba’s Ant Financial, Fosun International and Wanxiang Group who combined will own 73 per cent of the shares. Ningbo Jinrun Asset Management will own 16 per cent with the remaining 11 per cent held by a variety of minor interests.
Reuters reports MyBank represents a step towards “a full-fledged internet finance platform” eventually offering loans and credit services, insurance, payment systems and investments to “new tiers of Chinese society”.