Ant’s ability to lend curbed as consumer finance unit approved
Chinese fintech giant charts way forward after regulators torpedoed its listing in 2020
Ant Group’s most lucrative business of consumer lending is likely to become less profitable as the financial juggernaut emerges from a six-month regulatory crackdown aimed at curbing its influence.
While the writing has been on the wall for months, the approval of its consumer finance unit on Thursday with a capital base of 8-billion yuan ($1.3bn) limits Ant’s ability to lend on its own and in partnership with banks. At the same time, the firm might not need to raise more capital, because loans funded entirely by banks but distributed on Ant’s Alipay platform will not contribute to the unit’s balance sheet...
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