Smaller lenders embrace fintech wave

Financial technology or fintech, the new kid on the technology block, is spreading from large financial institutions to small and medium-sized banks in China.

Fintech, which is broadly defined as any technological innovation in financial services, utilizes technology that is widely available as payment apps to more complex software applications such as artificial intelligence and big data. Nearly 50 percent of the small and medium-sized banks have formed specific development plans for fintech, while about 96 percent have set up online banking systems and 54 percent have utilized big data analysis to control risks, according to findings from the Internet Finance Association of Small and Medium-sized Banks (IFAB), an alliance set up recently in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

The report also said the figures indicate small and medium-sized banks have attached great importance to digitalization, but the performance of their e-platforms has not been that satisfactory.