
SmartPay joins Ping An’s e-payment push
Ping An Insurance Group has taken the fight to Alibaba Group once before. In 2010 it bought an 80% stake in online grocery retailer Yihaodian and helped build the business into one of China’s leading B2C e-commerce players, finding space in the corner of a market increasingly dominated by Alibaba’s Tmall and Jingdong’s JD.com. Ping An sold majority control to Wal-Mart last year.
SmartPay, the group's most recent acquisition, sets the scene for a challenge to Alipay, Alibaba's market-leading third-party payment platform. Offering clear synergies with Ping An's core financial services...
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