Ant Financial, the finance arm of Chinese retail e-commerce giant Alibaba, has secured a virtual banking licence in Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong Government and Hong Kong Monetary Authority granted the firm permission to operate virtual and digital banking services - which do not require a physical presence - from today.
Ant Financial, along with its digital payments subsidiary Alipay, has rapidly grown to be a leading FinTech player in China, with more than one billion users globally making use of its e-wallet partners.
The move into Hong Kong’s market comes two months after Hong Kong’s monetary authority granted the first tranche of virtual banking licences as part of the administrative region’s expansion into the era of internet-based banking .
In a statement, Ant Financial said it was “committed to using technology to bring equal opportunities for both consumers and small and micro enterprises".
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