China Daily Global Edition (USA)

Home Credit to offer more loan products

- By ZHONGNANin Shanghai zhongnan@chinadaily.com.cn

Home Credit Group, an internatio­nal consumer finance provider based in the Czech Republic, will work closely with Chinese partners to add the number of loan products in Indonesia and India over the next five years to further diversify their earning ability, said its top executive.

Many of these opportunit­ies come from the fast developmen­t of the Belt and Road Initiative with growing trade and investment volume, as well as these countries’ increasing demand for consumptio­n upgrade, foreign products, public services and flexible financing solutions.

Home Credit has formed a strong partnershi­p with Dongguan-based Chinese smartphone manufactur­er Oppo Electronic­s Corp to build a stronger presence in member countries of the Associatio­n of Southeast Asian Nations, especially in Vietnam and the Philippine­s, to create new market growth points from the developmen­t of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Ondrej Frydrych, chief executive officer of Home Credit Group in China, said the company offers these countries consumer finance solutions which cover the entire process of loans, consumptio­n, payment and credit system constructi­on.

Unlike local dealership­s or banks, Home Credit is able to offer customers in the region a smartphone backed by a zero percent interest loan.

According to statistics from oppo’s overseas mobile phone sales department, about 40 percent of oppo mobile phones sold in Vietnam in 2015 were through consumer credit services provided by Home Credit.

Oppo’s sales in Philippine­s also jumped to the second place in terms of market share from January to August 2016, with over 30 percent of sales of certain models coming from the consumer credit services provided byHome Credit.

“The collaborat­ion is showing encouragin­g results, and these two modern trading routes have brought even more opportunit­ies in those markets, and offered a platform where we could better integrate mutual resources,” said Frydrych.

Home Credit achieved a robustly fast pace of growth in new loan volumes in Asian countries in the first half of 2016 — 109 percent in Vietnam, 164 percent in India, 321 percent in Indonesia and 466 percent in the Philippine­s.

Based on its experience in operating in Southeast Asia, Home Credit found that many local residents are still in great need of basic necessitie­s.

“The mobile phone will remain a stable growth point in Southeast Asian markets, while products that meet daily life needs such as household electrical appliances, electric motorcycle sand other durable consumer goods with high quality and relatively lower prices may have great market potential in the region,” said Frydrych.

The East European company had over 15 million active customers by the end of June this year, with over two-thirds of them in Asia: 7.3 million in China, 1.3 million in Vietnam and 1 million in India.

“The collaborat­ion between Home Credit and Chinese companies well supports the populariza­tion of consumer finance, and facilitate­s to promote ‘ Made in China 2025’ in global markets, enabling China to serve more foreign consumers while driving domestic industrial restructur­ing and upgrading,” said Zhao Xian, a professor of internatio­nal trade at the Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing.

 ??  ?? Ondrej Frydrych, chief executive officer of Home Credit Group in China
Ondrej Frydrych, chief executive officer of Home Credit Group in China

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