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Dubbed "Huoqi Bao", Xiaomi's new personal
finance service will offer deposit rates higher than traditional
Chinese banks and will be accessible via an app to be bundled
with Xiaomi handsets.
The service, a collaboration between Xiaomi and E Fund
Management, one of China's largest wealth managers, will expand
into offering personal lending and securities brokerage in the
near future, Xiaomi said.
The money market fund Xiaomi is offering has recently generated
annualized returns on deposits of 4.5 percent. Xiaomi was the
second-most popular phone maker in China behind Apple Inc during
the first quarter of 2015, according to IDC.
The formation of Huoqi Bao pits Xiaomi against Alibaba, Tencent
and Baidu Inc, Internet giants that have shaken up China's
financial services market in just two years.
Launched in 2013, Alibaba's Yu'e Bao said it had amassed 578
billion yuan ($93 billion) in assets by the end of 2014, placing
it in a rarefied tier of funds run by the likes of Vanguard.
Tencent has said its Licaitong product launched in 2014 now has
100 billion yuan under management.
(Reporting by Gerry Shih; editing by David Clarke)
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