Chinese banks boost fintech spend
(5 April 2019 – China) Chinese banks are upping their fintech spend and capability as they attempt to keep competition from internet giants at bay.
China Construction Bank last year set up its wholly-owned fintech division, the only big four state-owned bank to do so. Zhang Lilin, executive vice president of CCB said the bank’s investment in fintech development last year reached 2.2 percent of its operating income, 22 percent higher than in 2017.
China Merchants Bank is also striving to transition into a ‘digital bank’, saying in its 2018 annual report that IT expenses rose 35.2 percent from a year ago to 6.5 billion yuan, or 2.3 percent of its net operating income.
China Merchants Bank has also taken part in the development of the People’s Bank of China-led trade finance blockchain platform in the GBA. The Shenzhen-based bank has also worked with the construction industry on a blockchain-based centralised procurement supply chain finance platform.
The efforts come as growing competition from online giants such as Baidu, Alibaba Group Holding, Tencent Holding and JD.com intensifies.
Subscribe