E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has extended its Internet finance business beyond China as it eyes to set foot in the South Korean market.
According to the firm's financial affiliate, Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group Co., the South Korean government has already given initial permit to K Bank, an institution it helped co-launch with telecom company KT Corp. and other partners.
"K Bank has got permission from the South Korean government to start preparatory work," Ant Financial said, further sharing that the bank will soon apply for a license to start full-fledged operations.
Ant Financial added that K Bank will be allowed to provide all banking services, from handling loans, deposits and credit cards, to offering wealth management products.
Earlier in October, Alibaba-backed Indian mobile payment platform Paytm also got an approval from the Indian central bank.
"We will leverage our experiences in Internet finance services to help Indian and South Korean partners better serve small and micro enterprises," Ant Financial president Jin Xiandong said.
In September, Ant Financial also obtained a license from Chinese officials to unveil an Internet bank in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.
Analysts see the expansion of Alibaba to foreign markets as a reflection of its ambition to build an Internet-based financial empire.
Meanwhile, South Korea also gave preliminary approval to Kakao Corp.'s online banking application. The firm is the operator of the messaging app KakaoTalk, one of whose partners is an affiliate of the Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd.
Experts noted that the release of such permits is an effort of the South Korean government to kickstart a new momentum for the sector.