Alibaba's new partner to lend to US buyers of Chinese goods

San Francisco

ALIBABA Group Holding Ltd is teaming with LendingClub Corp to offer financing to US businesses to buy from Chinese suppliers, hoping to make it easier for American firms to tap the world's largest economy.

LendingClub, an eight-year-old San Francisco startup, said that it will provide its core service of matching small business borrowers with lenders on Alibaba.com, the Chinese company's global wholesale platform.

In the exclusive arrangement, LendingClub becomes the main source of US buyer financing on Alibaba.com. It will offer loans of up to US$300,000, typically for a few months, at rates of 0.5 per cent to 2.4 per cent - a fraction of the double-digits that credit cards incur. "They were looking for a technology-aware platform and also a partner that can operate at a low cost, so that the cost of credit for US buyers woul…