Alibaba Group’s finance arm has launched a credit rating system that draws on the Chinese ecommerce group’s huge trove of user data, amid a government drive to expand financing for consumers and small businesses.
The launch of Sesame Credit Management marks the latest push into financial services by an internet heavyweight — a development that policymakers hope can unlock the flow of credit to small, privately owned companies that account for most of China’s economic growth and job creation but struggle to obtain loans from state-owned banks.
Earlier this month the central bank cleared eight companies, including affiliates of social-networking giant Tencent, Ping An Group, and Alibaba, to establish consumer credit rating operations. Sesame Credit will rate both consumers and small businesses.