China Rapid Finance to triple number of users on its consumer lending platform
China Rapid Finance (CRF), the mainland’s largest online consumer lending platform in terms of the number of loans transacted, is looking to triple the number of users this year as it looks to create a business on par with a major commercial bank’s credit-card division.
Zane Wang Zhengyu, founder and chief executive of CRF, told the South China Morning Post that the company would be impervious to the challenges facing other peer-to-peer (P2P) operators on the mainland, and would continue to bolster its online consumer lending businesses in accordance with Beijing’s financial reforms.
“We have been trying to nurture the growth of the online consumer lending business in China,” he said. “High frequency of small-loan borrowings is the key to our success.”
CRF, founded in 2010, has 1.2 million borrowers on its platform at present. Wang, however, has set his sights high and wants the firm to have about 3 million borrowers.
CRF would also continue to augment its capital resources and recently bolstered its finances with a US$70 million funding from a clutch of investors including China United SME Guarantee Corp, known as Sino Guarantee, and Broadline Capital, he added.
On the mainland, a commercial bank’s credit-card unit normally has 8 million to 10 million cardholders more than half of whom would repay the loans before the credit holiday expires, crimping interest income for credit card issuers.
“We expect our platform to grow to 10 million borrowers in two to three years so that we can become a giant online consumer lending platform,” Wang said. “Our business model will be an ideal example of how China’s financial reforms can benefit the masses.”
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