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After enduring a two-year pay freeze at Bank of Communications Co and seeing his eight-year career as a credit-card risk manager in Shanghai stall, Zhu Jun headed for the exit. Like thousands of young Chinese, he quit his banking job to join a hot, new industry: Internet finance.
"I enjoy the fast pace here," said Zhu, 31, who has done so much better at Omni Prime, a Web startup that offers consumer credit to low-income workers, that his previously disapproving wife was able to quit her banking job and become a stay-at-home mom. "It was a very risky move, but I'm glad I made it."
Career advancement, prestige, the excitement of a startup - and the opportunity to earn 20 percent to 30 percent more pay, plus stock options - are luring Chinese professionals bored with banking and its limited opportunities. The exodus, an echo of moves in developed markets, comes as government-backed, brick-and-mortar lenders are struggling with zero profit growth and surging bad loans.
"People used to think that banking jobs are a 'golden bowl' - it's unbreakable, cushy and pays nicely," said Bai Rui, a Beijing-based partner at PXC Consulting, a human resources adviser. "Not anymore, because the pressure is rising and pay is diminishing."
Average pay at the online platforms that connect lenders and borrowers surged 16 percent in the first half from a year earlier, outstripping a 7.3 percent gain at banks, according to PXC.
Internet finance firms' median pay for their heads of risk management, marketing and operations is at least 1 million yuan ($157,000) annually, about double that of division heads at regional branches of major banks. That does not include generous stock options.
