Ant Group Reshuffles Huabei Consumer Loan Business
Ant Group’s Huabei (Ant Check Later) announced on Wednesday that Huabei will become an exclusive consumer-lending brand under the name Chongqing Ant Consumer Finance. The new company will focus on small and medium-sized spending demand.
Huabei initiated this brand segregation to implement regulatory requirements regarding consumption credit in full protection of consumer rights. The so-called brand segregation is to clearly separate the consumer credit services provided by financial institutions and avoid brand confusion.
Consumption loans fully funded by banks and other financial agencies will no longer be labelled as “Huabei”. Instead, these loans will be seen as a “Credit Buying” (信用购) service directly independent of financial bodies. Names of these financial institutions will be stated explicitly.
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The credit limit of “Credit Buying” shall be independently audited and determined by the financial institution. The interest-free period of “Credit Buying” and Huabei are the same. Both services can only be used for consumption, not cash, and will be reported to the national credit information system.
