Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said on Thursday it has changed the name of its Alipay financial services unit to Ant Financial Services Group as it steps up its push into the financial services industry.
Alibaba, the world's largest e-commerce company, already processes roughly half of China's e-commerce transactions through the unit. The company has been aggressively offering new financial services around Alipay, including a money market fund for consumers, a mobile payment app and even a new private bank that was recently approved by the Chinese government.