INDUSTRIAL & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC), the world’s largest lender by assets, has accelerated expansion into Internet finance by starting an online platform that integrates services from payments to financing and investment.

    The “e-ICBC” platform is the first Internet finance brand by a Chinese bank, the Beijing-based company said in a statement yesterday. It will combine the lender’s e-commerce, instant communications and product direct-selling units.

    ICBC joins peers such as Ping An Insurance Group Co. by expanding into Internet finance to fend off competition from technology companies such as Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., which have started banking services including wealth management and payments.

    ICBC has 465 million users of its electronic banking services, including 193 million customers online, chairman Jiang Jianqing said at a briefing in Beijing.

    China Vanke Co. president Yu Liang said at the same event that he hopes property sales through ICBC’s e-commerce platform can reach 10 billion yuan (US$1.6 billion) this year.

    The Hong Kong and Shanghai-listed lender’s e-commerce unit accumulated 16 million registered users in the 14 months since its establishment, with total transactions exceeding 100 billion yuan, ICBC said.

    Its e-payment system has more than 50 million customers, while the online lending platform to small businesses has issued 1.6 trillion yuan of loans, according to the statement. (SD-Agencies)