Home Credit becomes a leading lender

By Cecily Liu (China Daily) Updated: 2014-10-20 07:29

The Czech conglomerate PPF Group took a decade to expand its presence in China, and its hard work has been repaid in growing revenue and consumer trust, company officials say.

Its subsidiary Home Credit has become a leading foreign lender to consumers in China, having provided services to more than 6 million Chinese customers, created 20,000 jobs, and its financing capacity has triggered a flow of more than 25 billion yuan ($4 billion) in economic demand.

Home Credit provides loans on motorcycles and consumer durable goods through retailer networks in China as well as cash loans.

"Consumer financing is an important part of any economy as it accelerates economic growth, and we try to bring these benefits to China," says Mel Carvill, a member of the board of directors at Home Credit.

"In China, we focus on consumer education so our customers understand exactly what service we provide them, so in turn we win consumer trust."

Home Credit's operations cover 14 Chinese provinces and more than 150 cities, and it has more than 30,000 points of sale where transactions occur.

Point-of-sale loans enable durable goods to be bought and paid for in installments. The loans are sold to borrowers at shops as durable goods are bought.

PPF was founded in the Czech Republic in 1991 as an investment fund and participated in the privatization of the local economy after the fall of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic in 1989.

Although originally specializing in financing, retail banking and insurance, in more recent years its operation has expanded to include a diverse range of sectors including medicine and telecommunications.

Home Credit initially opened a representative office in Beijing in 2004 to focus on researching the market before expanding operations there.

"We approached the market tentatively initially to learn more," says Radek Bednar, chief sales officer of Home Credit China.

In 2007, Home Credit China launched its consumer finance operations in Guangdong province, after having developed a tailor-made business model based on both operational and funding agreements with leading Chinese financial institutions such as China Development Bank and Fotic Trust.

In 2008, HCC expanded its operation to Chengdu, Chongqing and Tianjin. It established a strong relationship with thousands of retailers and local shop owners nationwide, which enabled it to build up a broad point-of-sales network. The back office, located in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, is capable of processing more than 100,000 applications a day.