China’s central bank has granted a personal credit-reporting licence to an Ant Group-backed firm after a three-year wait, making it the mainland’s third agency licensed to collect credit data on individuals.
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) granted the licence to Qiantang Credit Rating – based in Ant’s hometown of Hangzhou, capital of eastern Zhejiang province – allowing it to operate a personal credit-reporting businesses through November 2027, the central bank announced in a statement on Monday.
Qiantang applied for the licence in November 2021, when the company revealed that its largest shareholders were state-owned Zhejiang Tourism Investment Group and privately-held Ant, each owning 35 per cent of the joint venture. Qiantang has 1 billion yuan (US$139 million) in registered capital.
Qiantang was set up amid a sweeping overhaul that restructured Ant into a financial holding company after regulators pulled the plug on its highly anticipated US$34 billion initial public offering in 2020.
While the PBOC runs its own Credit Reference Centre, it has been encouraging the private sector to offer services to individuals and small businesses.
