Clothing retailer Shein launches credit card with Mexican fintech Stori

By Kylie Madry

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein is launching its first branded credit card worldwide through a partnership with Mexican fintech Stori, the firms said on Tuesday, touting synergies that should help both expand in Latin America's second-largest economy.

The push will simultaneously aim to draw more Mexicans to the credit market, where they lag in access, as well as luring shoppers to the low-cost, quick-turnaround retailer's website.

Throughout Latin America, Shein has exploded in popularity in recent years, as it weighs plans to build a plant in Mexico and build out a distribution network in prime market Brazil.

The region has also seen a boom in small businesses which buy Shein clothing in bulk and re-sell it in physical storefronts.

Shein - valued at $66 billion in a fundraising round last year - has disrupted the fast-fashion industry with its low-cost model and rapid growth.

Mexico's e-commerce market was the fastest growing in the world last year, according to a study by the Mexican Online Sales Association (AMVO), with just over 40% of all online purchases being clothing.

The Shein credit card, a Mastercard, will offer points to use on the retailer's website with every purchase. Clothing purchases on Shein's website will earn double points, the firms said in a statement.

Stori, a fintech offering services such as savings accounts that provide 15% yields and credit cards with near-total approval rates, has already scooped up 3 million clients in Mexico in the last four years.

The Shein card will only be available to new Stori clients and not existing ones, according to Stori's website.

(Reporting by Kylie Madry; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)