Fintech sector ‘entering the midfield stage’

Source: Xinhua | 2018-09-07

China’s financial technology industry is “entering the midfield stage” after developing for 10 years, and compliance will be “the lifeline” for fintech players as regulators tighten scrutiny of the fast-growing sector, according to industry insiders.

Xiao Wenjie, chairman and CEO of LexinFintech Holdings Ltd, an online consumer finance platform, said at the LendIt Fintech Conference in Shanghai yesterday that there was some chaos in the fintech space during the past few years due to imperfect supervision.

But as the watchdog remains determined to rein in the country’s loosely-regulated online lending market, it is becoming all the more important for fintech companies to ensure that their business operations are in compliance, according to Xiao.

Fintech firms have allied with traditional financial service providers like banks and insurers by reducing their customer acquisition costs and enhancing their risk control capabilities in the past five years.

In the future, more industry players will begin to serve the real economy and enable the world’s second largest economy to upgrade its consumption, according to Lexin’s chairman and CEO.