Lenders see prospects from retail banking

Banks should realize that reshuffle of industry will come soon, says expert

Many commercial banks in China have highlighted retail banking as a business transformation strategy as they faced challenges from the booming fintech sector and tightening financial risk regulation in the first half of 2017, according to their interim results announcements.

For Bank of China Ltd, the fourth-largest commercial lender by assets in China, personal banking contributed 40.2 percent of its comprehensive income related to domestic commercial banking, up 30 basis points from the same period last year. Among new domestic yuan loans totaling 460 billion yuan ($70 billion), personal loans accounted for 58 percent.