China Banking Regulatory Commission has approved the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding-affiliated online bank, MYbank, to commence operations.
The bank, partially owned by Alibaba-linked Ant Financial, will launch operations in June 2015 with a registered capital of CNY4bn ($645m), according to the approval document by Zhejiang Banking Regulatory Commission.
Ant Financial will hold a 30% interest in MYbank, while subsidiaries of Fosun International and Wanxiang Group will hold 25% and 18% stakes, respectively.
MYbank head Yu Shengfa said in an email to Reuters: "MYbank is an important milestone for Ant Financial’s development to provide financial services for small and micro enterprises and individuals."
The bank, which will have no physical branches, will focus on financial services for small and micro business, as well as online consumers through the internet platform.
The online lender will specifically target financial products for deposits below CNY200,000 ($32,289) and loans of less than CNY5m ($0.8m).