Chinese fintech companies make claims on the future

As Zane Wang sees it, China's young "are confident about their future earning power, so they want to borrow money to improve their lives".

Wang is part of a new wave of Chinese financial technology (fintech) companies looking to shake up banking and wealth-management channels in much the same way Airbnb and Uber have altered the hotel and taxi businesses.

He is the founder and CEO of China Rapid Finance, which was started in 2001 and developed a credit-scoring technology for China that is similar to the FICO or Fair Isaac Corp system in the United States.

China Rapid Finance, now operator of the Chinese mainland's largest consumer lending marketplace, and Nuoyuan Technology Development Co Ltd, a risk control management company, were two of the companies present on Tuesday at Lendit USA, a networking event for the emerging fintech industry, in New York.

"In 2010, we leveraged our technology to start a marketplace lending platform," Wang said.

China Rapid Finance, based in Shanghai, is targeting the estimated 500 million Chinese who are working but do not have access to credit yet, Wang said. Banks in China tend to cater to the well-established and affluent clientele, he added.

Wang said China Rapid Finance does not provide the actual financing product to consumers. "We are a facilitator and we don't use our balance sheet to make loans. We match borrowers and lenders," he said.

Wang believes that China's developing middle class provides ample expansion opportunity for his company. To achieve that growth, he needs an expanding middle class, and he believes government policy is promoting that objective.

"The Chinese government is trying to encourage domestic consumption," he said.

China Rapid Finance is a so-called peer-to-peer lending company. In 2015, Internet lender Ezubo allegedly defrauded more than 900,000 people out of the equivalent of $7.6 billion, in what was called China's biggest Ponzi scheme.

Since the scandal, the government has imposed a regulatory framework that Wang believes will protect consumers, lenders and investors.

Reports published last month suggested that China Rapid Finance would seek an initial public offering in the US this year. Wang said no decision has been made yet.

"We need a secure capital base to grow, but we haven't made any announcement yet," he said.

Nuoyuan Technology Development, a unit of Hanfor Holdings, has developed a risk control system designed specifically for the Chinese market.

"China's fintech emerged from a less-mature market (and) aims to reinvent the financial services system," said Guo Lu, president of Hanfor.

paulwelitzkin@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily USA 03/08/2017 page2)