Ant Group applies to China’s central bank to set up personal-credit scoring joint venture with state-backed partners
- The personal-credit scoring joint venture, Qiantang Credit, will be 35 per cent owned by a unit of Ant Group
- Tech firms are hiving off their consumer-credit data units in joint ventures with state-backed entities, which could help allay regulators’ concerns about their control over personal data
Qiantang Credit, which will have 1 billion yuan (US$157 million) in registered capital, will be 35 per cent each owned by a unit of Ant Group and Zhejiang Tourism, according to a notice published by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) on its website on Friday.
The rest will be held by Zhejiang-based conglomerate Transfar Group, state-owned Hangzhou Financial Investment Group, trade information portal operator Zhejiang Electronic Port and Hangzhou Xishu.
The PBOC said it will accept public feedback on the venture’s application for a business licence until December 2, following which it will give its decision.
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Ant Group declined to comment.
If approved, the credit-scoring agency will be the third private company in mainland China to provide credit reporting services, that underpin lenders’ lending decisions. The last licence was granted in December 2020 to Pudao Credit Rating, which is backed by e-commerce major JD.com, smartphone giant Xiaomi and artificial intelligence giant Megvii.
