Ant Group-backed digital lender MYBank has posted surging growth in lending in the first quarter of 2022, following a push from Chinese regulators for greater financial inclusion.
MYBank’s first quarter report released on 31 May indicates that its loans and advances for the period from January to March totalled 189.1 billion yuan, for year-on-year growth of 31.6%.
Growth in interest revenue lagged far behind the scope of loan extension, rising just 2% YoY, following efforts to reduce costs for micro and small-loans at the behest of Chinese regulators.
MYBank’s financial inclusion micro and small-loan interest rates have declined for four successive years, with over 70% of loans incurring interest costs of under 100 yuan.
MYBank focuses on servicing micro and small-businesses and key rural demographics, with its micro-and-small enterprise customer numbers exceeding 45 million as of the end of 2021.
According to the lender over 80% of its new clients are taking their first business loans, having previously been unable to obtain credit from established Chinese banks.
