China has just seen the launch of a new fintech industry group with the participation of more than 170 of the country’s leading banking sector financial institutions.
The Financial Digital Development Alliance (FDDA) (金融数字化发展联盟) was officially launched on 26 November, with the goal “accelerating the digitised growth of the financial sector.”
FDDA’s offices are located at the China UnionPay Data headquarters in Shanghai. The Alliance was established with the support of Chinese regulators and industry associations, as well as the technical assistance of the Tsinghua University Fintech Research Institute (清华大学金融科技研究院).
Founding members of FDDA include big state-owned banks Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, ICBC, China Construction Bank and the Postal Savings bank of China, as well as regional and joint-stock lenders including China CITIC Bank, China Everbright Bank, China Merchants Bank, Huaxia Bank, Industrial Bank Co., Zheshang Bank and Bohai Bank.
Big tech companies and fintech firms are also amongst the founding members of the alliance, including ByteDance, Baidu, Ele.me, JDD, Suning Finance and Tencent, as well as consulting firms PwC and Ernst & Young.
FDDA’s goals will reportedly include “cross-sector integration, joint establishment and sharing, revitalisation of industry and services inclusion,” with a focus on the “Five New Services” of “expediting new links, integrating new resources, establishing new platforms, incorporating new technologies and sharing new futures.”
Ji Xiaojie (季小杰), president of China UnionPay Data, said that FDDA will aim to bring in enterprises and institutions from a broad range of industry segments and links, and gradually extend to more diverse financial institutions in areas including securities, insurance and investment funds.
“[This will ] help members to strengthen cross-industry cooperation, implement financial inclusion, service the real economy, and link with various members of industry to jointly advance financial digital development.”
