Ant Group begins to differentiate the Jiebei consumer credit business from bank lending $500 loans


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A man walks past an Ant Group logo at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, China on July 8, 2021. REUTERS / Yilei Sun

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BEIJING, Nov. 8 (Reuters) – Chinese group Ant said on Monday it was working to “differentiate” part of its short-term consumer lending loans”}” data-sheets-userformat=”{“2″:513,”3”:{“1″:0},”12″:0}”>$500 loans business Jiebei, as it pursues a Beijing-led restructuring aimed at curbing part of its coasting activities. companies.

Ant, the financial arm of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group (9988.HK), saw its $ 37 billion IPO last year by regulators and has been working to transform itself into a financial holding company ever since. Read more $500 loans

Local media reported changes to Jiebei this weekend after Chinese regulators in April asked Ant to conduct a comprehensive corporate overhaul, which includes the bundling of its Jiebei and Huabei credit products, into a new consumer finance company.

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They also criticized Huabei and Jiebei for the inappropriate links between payment services and financial products, saying the latter may have promoted user loan services too much.

The Shanghai Securities News reported on Sunday, citing borrowers, that the Jiebei platform had made changes to indicate which loans were provided by Chongqing Ant Consumer Finance Co and which were provided by banks.

“Jiebei is gradually working on brand differentiation,” said a spokesperson for Ant Group, adding that consumer credit services provided independently by banks or other financial institutions will be featured on a “loan” page. credit”.

Ant did not say how its business would be affected by brand differentiation.

Ant was ordered by regulators to complete the restructuring of the Huabei and Jiebei brand within 6 months of starting operations at his consumer finance company, local media outlet the 21st Century Business Herald earlier reported.

Ant’s consumer credit unit was granted permission to start operating in Chongqing City in June. Read more

Huabei and Jiebei were used by around 500 million people in the 12 months leading up to June 30, 2020, Ant said in its IPO prospectus.

In September, Ant’s virtual credit card service, Huabei, began sending its consumer credit data to a database maintained by the central bank of China, a key step for the company and regulators. as Beijing tightens its grip on the financial technology sector. Read more

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Reporting by Cheng Leng and Brenda Goh; edited by Richard Pullin

Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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