E-commerce giant JD.com and China Merchants Bank (CMB) are teaming up to launch a new digital bank in the Chinese financial hub of Shanghai.
CMB announced on 11 December that it had obtained approval from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) to establish Zhaoshang Tapu Bank (招商拓扑银行) – an online direct bank, in Shanghai.
CMB will hold a 70% stake in Zhaoshang Tapu while Wangyin Online – a wholly owned subsidiary of JD.com’s fintech vehicle JDD, will hold a 30% stake.
The approval comes nearly three years after CBIRC approved the establishment of China’s first direct bank in January 2017 – CITIC aiBank, which was originally a joint venture between Baidu and China CITIC Bank.
CMB first unveiled plans to establish a legal person direct bank in March 2018, announcing that the bank would have registered capital of 2 billion yuan.
