Bank of East Asia expands retail banking in China through internet partnerships

Teaming up with mainland Chinese internet partners including a Tencent-backed banking unit and online travel platform Ctrip has been a major boost to Bank of East Asia’s retail banking operations in the mainland, according to deputy chief executive Brian Li Man-bun.

By joining forces with four technology companies, the Hong Kong-based bank has been able to offer 5 billion yuan (US$730 million) in loans to mainlanders over the past year, said Li.

Bank of East Asia, the largest family-owned, listed bank in Hong Kong, teamed up with Tencent-backed WeBank in November. Under their partnership, BEA is able to offer 12-month loans online of up to 30,000 yuan (US$4,740) without the customer needing to step into a bank branch.

It teamed up with online travel provider Ctrip last year to introduce a co-branded credit card in China.

The bank has partnered with two new mainland internet partners this year. Li declined to name them but said the tie-ups had also helped to bring in more retail customers in the mainland.

“The four mainland partnerships have helped us to offer more consumer lending and find new credit card clients. We will target more partnerships so as to offer bank loans and cross-sell other financial products to these customers,” Li said in an media briefing in Hong Kong.