Alibaba Streamlines Finance Access For India’s SMEs

Alibaba is making more moves to encourage Indian entrepreneurs to be part of its site. This time, it’s through a deal with India’s largest private sector lender.

Alibaba and ICICI Bank have secured a deal that will enable the eCommerce giant to help streamline the financing process for small and medium-sized businesses in India. This means, for any business that’s a member of Alibaba’s online marketplace, those owners get their hands on capital quicker. ICICI Bank said it will be offering loans, cash management options, foreign exchange transactions, bank guarantees and cross-border remittances, Business Standard reported.

“We will offer to the members of Alibaba.com special propositions across our entire spectrum of business services ranging from accounts, letter of credit, bank guarantees, remittances, forex, loans and cash management solutions. We believe this access to quick and integrated banking will enable Indian entrepreneurs to propel their business on the global platform,” Rajiv Sabharwal, executive director of ICICI Bank, told Business Standard.

Not only will the Alibaba and ICICI relationship help those small business owners secure capital quicker, but it will also allow Alibaba’s entrepreneurs in India to receive better rates on services the bank offers.

While Alibaba has made additional moves in India, including a 25 percent acquisition in local mobile commerce platform Paytm and investments in eCommerce portal Snapdeal, the company just recently secured an official partnership in India. Just weeks ago, Alibaba struck a strategic partnership with advertising agency TDI International. This venture will allow Alibaba to reach out to India’s growing SME population.

Specifically, reports said, Alibaba will be using TDI’s internal and mobile ad services to sell the Alibaba.com gold membership service to local small businesses interested in selling through the digital platform.

Outside of Alibaba, the State Bank of India has also been working with eCommerce companies like Snapdeal to help bring financing for its retailers. SBI has also worked with PayPal and Amazon on separate payment deals.

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