Suning Commerce Group follows the footsteps of Alibaba and JD.com in unveiling a virtual credit card payment service. (Photo : Reuters)
Customers of Suning Commerce Group can now purchase items first before paying, thanks to the home appliance retail chain’s newest offering: an online credit payment service.
The financial information website aastocks.com revealed on Wednesday that the Chinese retail giant is set to unveil a virtual credit card product for its users.
Through the payment tool Yifubao, the “buy now, pay later” service will allow Suning’s customers to purchase items worth up to 50,000 yuan. There will be a 30-day period allotment for the completion of the payment.
The online financial information hub also stated that Suning is eyeing to offer more loan services, subject to the approval of China Banking Regulatory Commission.
The Nanjing-headquartered retail chain is expected to intensify its market share in the financing services sector, following its major competitors’ previous marketing strategies.
Back in Feb. 2014, online retailer JD.com, Inc. released its virtual credit card service, “JD Baitiao,” which features the same online payment service with Suning’s.
Before 2014 concluded, Alibaba’s online payment arm, Alipay, unveiled its own Web-based credit card payment option with 1,000 to 3,000 yuan threshold.
According to Wang Weidong, an iResearch industry analyst, the virtual credit card service could be a promising platform for the growth of e-commerce. Furthermore, this is seen a way to counter the monopoly of traditional banks in the credit card services sector.
Earlier in January, the New York-based research firm Zacks Equity Research stated that credit card services in China are “gradually gaining ground as the country's young consumers are leaning toward taking debt.”
