Xiaomi Launches Internet Finance Unit to Compete with Alibaba and Tencent
The widely popular Chinese electronics manufacturer Xioami is making headway into the finance sector with the launch of a new product service. Termed as ‘Huoqi Bao’, the newly launched personal finance service will offer deposit rates higher than the traditional Chinese banks. The recently inaugurated financial unit by Xiaomi pits it against the big players in the online finance arena like Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu.
The China’s Apple has collaborated with a fund management company called E Fund Management that, as per Xiaomi, will expand into offering personal lending and security brokerage in the near future. The Huoqi Bao service will be accessible via an app bundled with Xiaomi’s operating system.
Xiaomi Co-Founder Hong Feng said in a statement –
We’re aiming to build a smart platform to help financial partners find high quality clients, while helping our users earn money and borrow money.
China’s two biggest internet companies, Tencent and Alibaba, have established themselves in such a short span of time. Xiaomi aims to follow the footprints of the firms and provide investors with higher growth rates and cash-on-demand service. As per Reuters report, the world’s third largest smartphone brand has recently “generated annualized returns on deposits of 4.5 percent.”
Alibaba’s financial arm Yu’E Bao was reported to have assets of worth 578 billion yuan ($93 billion) by end 2014. The E Fund Management is not exclusive to Xiaomi only and will also provide services to the Tencent’s Licaitong.
