May 12, 2018 @ 10:32 am By Xu Gao  |  

PBOC Bans Unauthorized APP to Access Credit Rating System Recently, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), China’s central bank, issued a document named, “Notice on Further Strengthening the Management of Credit Information Security” (Yinfa [2018] No. 102) (hereinafter referred to as “Document No. 102”), to… Read More

April 28, 2018 @ 10:45 am By Xu Gao  |  

Financial Inclusion Platform FINUP Plans Public Listing in Hong Kong On April 23, China’s leading financial inclusion platform FINUP filed a listing application for the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX). According to statistics, FINUP will be the fifth Fintech company from mainland China… Read More

April 21, 2018 @ 2:45 pm By Xu Gao  |  

Ant Financial and Bank of China Collaborate on Blockchain-based House Leasing Project in Xiong’an New Area On April 20th, Ant’s Xiong’an Digital Technology Co., Ltd. and the Xiong’an branch of Bank of China, signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Xiong’an New Area. In the future,… Read More

April 11, 2018 @ 4:08 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Chinese fintech and Alibaba-affiliated Ant Financial is preparing to launch a private funding round in order to secure up to $9 billion. According to various reports, the company is increasing the funding target from previous funding rounds that sought up to $5 billion. Ant Financial’s previous fundraising round… Read More

March 17, 2018 @ 12:48 pm By Xu Gao  |  

China to Combine CBRC and CIRC According to a State Council reform plan that was presented for deliberation during the National People’s Congress on March 13, China will abolish China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) & the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC). Instead, it will establish… Read More

March 13, 2018 @ 10:30 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Telenor Group announced on Tuesday it has reached a strategic partnership agreement with Ant Financial Services Group (Ant Financial) in Pakistan, where Ant Financial will invest $184.5 million for a 45% stake in Telenor Microfinance Bank (TMB), a subsidiary of Telenor Group, to further develop… Read More

February 3, 2018 @ 2:36 am By Xu Gao  |  

Tencent Credit Launches Public Beta Testing in China On January 30th, Tencent officially launched a public beta testing for its credit service-Tencent Credit. Users may get access to the service by searching “Tencent Credit” within WeChat, complete real-name authentication, bind his/her mobile phone number to… Read More

January 27, 2018 @ 3:22 pm By Xu Gao  |  

P2P lending platform Dianrong Secures $70 million D-round funding On January 24th, online lending platform Dianrong.com announced 70 million US dollars D-round funding. This round of investment was led by ORIX’s wholly-owned-subsidiary ORIX Asia Capital Co., Ltd.. CITIC Securities CITIC Securities subsidiary CITIC Lyon also… Read More

January 9, 2018 @ 4:04 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Following China’s decision to restrict micro-loans, Alibaba’s Ant Financial has reportedly halted its consume loan lending. According to Bloomberg, the company has not sold any asset-backed securities since early December, which was around the time that Chinese officials announced they were requiring micro-lenders to consolidate… Read More

January 3, 2018 @ 10:10 am By JD Alois  |  

Ant Financial, part of tech conglomerate Alibaba, announced its intent to purchase MoneyGram (NASDAQ: MGI)  a year ago. The acquisition would have combined MoneyGram’s money transfer network of 2.4 billion bank and mobile accounts with Alibaba’s fast growing global Fintech presence. MoneyGram is currently active in… Read More

December 19, 2017 @ 1:43 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

International banking group Standard Chartered Bank announced on Monday it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with digital financial service provider Ant Financial Services Group. The company reported that under the terms of the MOU it will combine its banking expertise and insights in emerging… Read More

December 16, 2017 @ 3:05 pm By Xu Gao  |  

Supply Chain Finance Platform Daokoudai.com Secures ¥100 million Investment led by BCCF On December 13th, online supply chain finance platform Daokoudai.com announced it had receive a ¥100 million A-round funding led by Beijing Cultural Center Fund (BCCF). SinarMas from Indonesia and Zhen Ru Investment Management… Read More

December 2, 2017 @ 12:37 pm By Xu Gao  |  

People’s Bank of China Official Shares Opinions About Fintech Sandbox During the third development forum held by Shanghai Payment & Clearing Association, Li Wei, head of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) science and technology division, highlighted the importance of setting up trial-and-error mechanisms for… Read More

November 25, 2017 @ 11:23 am By Xu Gao  |  

Robo-advisors Now Required to Gain License to Operate in Mainland China On November 17th, top financial regulators in mainland China (including PBOC, CBRC, CSRC, CIRC and SAFE) released a new set of rules covering the country’s asset management market. It is the first time that… Read More

October 27, 2017 @ 1:44 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Chinese fintech and Alibaba-affiliated Ant Financial revealed this week it is putting its Initial Public Offering (IPO) plans on hold and is now focused on investing in more startups and artificial intelligence (AI). The news of Ant Financial’s plans comes less than a year after… Read More

October 19, 2017 @ 9:30 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Digital payment platform Alipay announced on Thursday it has teamed up with smart terminal provider Poynt to enable its Chinese users to pay with its services through all Poynt devices in North America. The duo revealed that through their new agreement, Alipay’s Chinese users visiting North America… Read More

October 14, 2017 @ 8:20 pm By Xu Gao  |  

Tencent Received License to Sell Insurance on WeChat and QQ This week, China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) announced that it had grant an operation license to Shenzhen Wei Min Insurance Agency Co. Ltd. Tencent owns a majority stake (57.8%) of this new insurer. Fubon Property… Read More

September 22, 2017 @ 9:12 pm By Xu Gao  |  

China Takes Strict Control Over Consumer Credit, Forbidding it to Enter the Real Estate Market It is reported on September 20th that the Guangzhou branches of PBOC and CBRC have jointly issued a statement about consumer credit regulation, forbidding it to enter the real-estate market…. Read More

August 6, 2017 @ 1:00 pm By Xu Gao  |  

Baidu Partners With PayPal to Tap Cross-border Payments On July 28, Baidu annouced a strategic agreement with PayPal to tap oversea merchants as Chinese tech companies ramp up the fight for overseas payment partnerships. The partnership allows Baidu Wallet users to make online purchases outside… Read More

July 8, 2017 @ 9:12 am By Xu Gao  |  

Ant Financial Brings Artificial Intelligence to Auto Insurance On June 27th, The Alibaba Group financial affiliate rolled out an artificial intelligence-driven, image-recognition system to aid vehicle insurance claims adjusters in operating faster and more efficiently. In its demonstration in Beijing, Ant pitted man against machine,… Read More