Chinese fintech Pintec Technology Holdings Limited (PINTEC) recently announced it has formed an agreement with China Unicom to enable China Unicom’s payment platform Unicompay to offer handset financing services to its base of subscribers. According to Pintec, the digital handset financing solution allows customers to buy mobile phones online and offline with zero or limited down payment, improving payment flexibility and access to financing. Pintec further explained:
“The purchase process is fast and straightforward. After customers complete online applications for installment loans, Pintec will conduct real-time credit assessment based on internal and external data sources for financial institutions to make final credit decisions. The whole process takes only a few minutes.”
While sharing more details about the collaboration, Allen Dong, Acting CEO of Pintec, stated:
“Pintec has accumulated rich experience in serving telecom operators. Before this, Pintec cooperated with China Telecom and China Mobile, providing them with widely proven digital installment loan solutions. We have gained deep understanding of telecoms, their customers, and the mobile phone market through years of field research and training in hundreds of cities across China.”
Pintec also claimed that the partnership with China Unicom has made it one of the few fintech companies in China that serve the country’s three largest telecom operators at the same time. Dong noted:
“Our knowledge in handset financing can be readily replicated in markets outside of China and better serve local customers together with local telecom operators and other potential partners.”
Tao Guowei, Vice President of Marketing at Unicompay Co. Ltd., added that the services may integrate financial functions and communication technologies to realize efficient one-stop installment payment for users.
