Alibaba Opens Doors and Teams up with HSBC and Citibank A.S.

According to the B2B Market Blog, China’s Alibaba.com Ltd, the world’s largest online B2Bmarketplace, plans to team up with HSBC Holdings plc and Citibank A.S.as it aims to turn its Alipay unit into an international online paymentplatform, sources reported.

The company will allow account holders of the two global lenders topay and transfer funds online via Alipay platform. It is also reportedearlier that the Hangzhou-based company plans to cooperate withMasterCard Incorporated and Visa Inc to launch an internationalizedAlipay settlement platform.

David Wei, CEO of Alibaba, said that Alipay will be the platform inAlibaba’s B2B international settlement in the third quarter of thisyear.

Alibaba plans to spend more on marketing, research and development,as well as recruitment this year, said Wei, adding that the company isalso seeking opportunities of acquiring e-commerce companies with newtechnology.

source : http://news.alibaba.com