(Yicai  Global) Feb. 21 -- Alipay, the third-party payment platform under  Alibaba fintech affiliate Ant Financial Services Group, will begin to  charge service fees for users who use its app to repay credit cards from  next month.

Due  to rising operating costs related to credit card repayment, the  platform will charge individual users 0.1 percent for repayments of over  CNY2,000 (USD298) from March 26, the Hangzhou-based firm said in a  statement. 

Users  can also exchange Alipay membership points or ask family members to  effectively lend them their account to forgo the charges. 

Alipay  handles less credit card repayment compared with everyday payments,  wealth investment and other services, according to an industry insider,  adding that users can also pay off their credit cards free of charge  through online banking and other channels outside of Alipay and its  Tencent-backed rival WeChat Pay. 

WeChat  Pay began to charge for such services last August and other smaller  third-party payment platforms could follow suit in the future, he added.  

Editor: William Clegg