China has been looking to create a credit scoring system seen in many developed economies like the U.S. and the U.K.; initially asking 8 top companies to be involved, though they found it hard to form as companies were unwilling to share proprietary data with competitors; the PBoC is now tasked with having a industry wide system that does not favor giants like Alibaba and Tencent. Source.
China’s largest e-commerce company, Alibaba, launched a new interest free offering for U.S. small businesses;“Rather than a low-cost loan, the...
Hong Kong has approved 4 more digital banking licenses for Tencent, Alibaba, Xiaomi and Ping An; the approvals are sure...
Fintech is expected to generate $65 billion in sales by 2020 and Alibaba and Tencent are projected to capture half of the market; this would significantly increase valuations for both large e-commerce firms; online payments growth is also projected to be significant, supporting further value increases for both firms. Source
In 2015 China’s Central Bank contracted eight companies, including affiliates of Tencent, Ping An and Alibaba, to help build a...
Kabbage will now power Alibaba’s Pay Later program which is offered to US buyers; Pay Later allows small businesses to...
While Alibaba’s Sesame Credit has increased access to loans in China the government recently told them to stop a national rollout of the program; John Gapper from the FT writes that there are three main issues behind social credit scores in China; technology companies have a more liberal attitude than banks when it comes to data; social credit scores seem to promote spending and more credit where as a traditional FICO score rewards a user for self control; the scores are proprietary to the companies who created them like Alibaba did with Sesame Credit. Source.
This week, we look at:
China’s Five Year Plan, the industrial logic of the system, and its ramifications for blockchain and fintech in the country
The regulatory challenges faced by Chinese tech companies, including the resignation of Ant Group’s CEO and the anti-competition fines for Tencent
The growth path of the e-CNY digital currency, as well as Beijing’s enterprise blockchain powering the city infrastructure and governance
Footnote: Stripe worth $95 billion, closing $600 million investment
The main driver of today's entry is the news -- which has largely percolated -- that ConsenSys acquired Quorum from J.P. Morgan, as well as received an investment from the bank in the company. There is a lot of jargon in the blockchain industry, and I want to try to pull this news apart to explain why it is interesting both to incumbent financial services players, as well as meaningful to the developing decentralized finance industry.
The company claims to be Hong Kong’s largest trade financing platform for SMEs; the $15 million Series A round was...