AXA, Alibaba and Ant Financial Services have agreed to engage in a global strategic partnership to jointly explore opportunities to distribute AXA’s insurance products and services through Alibaba’s global ecommerce ecosystem, benefitting the businesses and consumers that transact via Alibaba’s marketplaces. The companies will seek to work together to co-innovate and to develop value-added products and services to customers around the world as well as to mutually support each other in developing and exploring new markets and segments.

The first phase of the proposed collaboration will focus on the following areas:

• on AliExpress, a global retail marketplace targeted at consumers worldwide, AXA would develop and provide insurance products for AliExpress’ global customers, such as extended warranties for repairs and/or damaged goods and enhanced online payment protection;
• on Alibaba’s wholesale marketplaces (Alibaba.com, 1688.com), AXA would provide insurance products to small and medium businesses from all over the world that are already trading on these platforms;
• through Ant Financial Services (an Alibaba-affiliate which provides financial services), AXA would offer travel insurance products for Chinese travelers going overseas.

These insurance products and services would be developed by AXA’s local entities according to the customers’ local requirements.

“Forming partnerships with the most forward-thinking companies is part of our strategy to seize new business opportunities. This proposed collaboration with Alibaba could provide us with a unique global and direct distribution channel, and we are looking forward to serving Alibaba’s customers and to developing bespoke and innovative insurance products and services for them. Thanks to Alibaba’s unrivaled knowledge of its home market, this partnership will also help us further accelerate our development in China, where we already are the n.1 international insurer[1]”, said Thomas Buberl, Deputy CEO of AXA[2].

“Our collaboration with industry-leader AXA is a key part of Alibaba’s globalization strategy and our vision to enable small businesses and consumers alike to enjoy the convenience and benefits of e-commerce in a safe trading environment,” said Michael Evans, President, Alibaba Group. “As cross-border e-commerce grows rapidly, it is critical that we evolve our services and offerings to the businesses and consumers that conduct trade on our platforms. The collaboration between AXA and Alibaba will enable us to create new solutions and ultimately improve the overall customer experience.”

[1] Source: CIRC statistics as of December 31, 2015, in terms of GWP.

[2] Thomas Buberl will be CEO of AXA as of September 1, 2016.