Online service to gain more ground in financial market (4)

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Intent of cooperation

While competition is inevitable, a source with Alibaba's small and micro financial service unit told the Global Times Tuesday that the group had no intention to engage in a cutthroat rivalry with commercial banks.

"Although we offer similar lending services as commercial banks, we mostly serve micro, small and medium-sized companies at their start-up stages with little amount of money from investors, while banks serve large and mature companies with a rich pool of capital," the source said on condition of anonymity.

Alibaba is more interested in partnering with commercial banks in offering financial services targeted at different customers and at various stages of a company's development, he said.

"Internet financial services providers and banks should work in a complimentary manner, so as to meet our customers' demand in the best possible way," the source noted.

Wang said that banks and Internet companies might cooperate in sharing data that e-commerce firms collect, such as Web users' buying habits.

Zhao agreed with Wang, noting that after a period of competition, online financial services providers and banks might integrate their services.

"The ultimate goal is for banks and Internet companies to provide similar services on an open e-commerce platform which offers consumers the most customized products," he said.

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