China Merchants Bank (CMB) has used internet-facilitated fintech to drive financially inclusive lending to small businesses.
According to recent data from CMB as of April 2019 the bank’s financially inclusive micro and small-enterprise (MSE) loan balance had breached 400 billion yuan, while total MSE loans made over the past seven years were in excess of 2.5 trillion yuan.
At the end of 2018 CMB’s MSE loan balance breached 390 billion yuan, putting it first amongst joint-stock banks in China for financially inclusive MSE lending, as well as third in the sector as a whole.
75% of CMB’s MSE clients obtained their loans via the bank’s online platform, which purports to provide a “one-button lending experience” that reduces procedural complications and accelerates the provision of funds.
CMB claims that its “flash loan” platform can provide funds in as little as 60 seconds from the time of application, and that it is the only bank in China to employ a centralised system for the approval of loans throughout the country.
CMB is considered a fintech pioneer in the Chinese banking sector, exploring the use of the internet, big data and artificial intelligence to improve financial inclusion as well as related risk controls and returns.
In 2018 CMB invested 6.502 billion yuan information technology, as part of efforts to establish itself as China’s “fintech bank.”
