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Nadia Afrin

Nadia Afrin oversees communications and knowledge management at the SME Finance Forum. She brings over 12 years of experience in strategic and digital communications on a wide range of development issues. Her clients have included UN organizations, Inter-American Development Bank, World Bank and the Hewlett Foundation. Prior to joining the Forum, she worked on product development, strategy and innovation at the Development Gateway, a Washington DC based non-profit that makes aid and development efforts more effective worldwide. A technology enthusiast, Nadia has a Masters in Science and Technology Policy from George Washington University.

CreditEase China: Big Data Makes What Once Seemed Impossible, Possible

Oct 18, 2018
CreditEase China: Big Data Makes What Once Seemed Impossible, Possible

Founded 12 years ago, CreditEase offers inclusive finance and wealth management for SMEs. The China-based fintech company provides products and services such as: payment, technology, marketplace lending, crowdfunding, robo-advisory services, insurance technology and blockchain products and services.  

With a US $1.890 billion financing gap for China’s 56 million MSMEs, the need for fintechs and entrepreneurs is pertinent. 

CreditEase offers Chinese MSMEs unsecured credit, financial leasing for small-scale operating equipment, agricultural machinery and livestock leasing of stockbreeding, as well as supply chain financing. CreditEase is focused on giving traditionally underbanked SMEs access to comprehensive financial services.  

“Today we can reach small businesses and entrepreneurs—businesses that were not traditionally covered by the Chinese financial system. Fintech helps make the financial system more comprehensive, and helps make financial services more efficient,” said Ning Tang CEO of CreditEase, China.  

Furthermore, CreditEase offers the Financial Cloud Model, which has been critical in the approach and relational development toward SMEs. The Financial Cloud offers modularized services in an eco-system supported by cloud computing and big data technology.  

“We have a multiproduct relationship with small businesses. For example, small business that don’t know much about insurance coverage can get advice from our insurance arm. It’s a separate business, but it makes for a comprehensive offering for SMEs,” said Tang.

SMEs are able to improve a multitude of business areas through the cloud strategy; internal management, training, finance and customer relationships.  

In addition to unlocking opportunities for SMEs, CreditEase prioritizes protecting the peer-to-peer (P2P) lending sector. With stricter regulations introduced in 2016, CreditEase is pleased with the protection of integrity of the marketplace platform and believes the industry is much healthier because of the regulatory clean-up. 

“It’s a trillon-dollar market, and the regulatory guidelines that came out make us stronger,” said Tang.  

In the same respect of structure and regulations, CreditEase appreciates the policy discussions and reports offered by the SME Finance Forum. Being a member allows for connection to the work of the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI), which has proved to be helpful towards the evolving needs of SMEs in China. According to Tang, CreditEase has gained a significant deal from the international knowledge exchange from the SME Finance Forum.  

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