UOB teams up with China fintech to grow credit assessment in SE Asia

Singapore

UNITED Overseas Bank (UOB), which has the largest South-east Asia network of the three Singapore banks, has tied up with an emerging Chinese fintech firm to tackle the under-banked market of South-east Asia.

This is likely the first such collaboration for a regional bank, and is the first in a series of digital initiatives to be launched by UOB this year.

UOB on Monday said it has set up a joint venture (JV) with Beijing-based Pintec Technology Holdings; the bank holds a 60 per cent share of the JV, named Avatec.ai (Avatec), and Pintec, the remaining 40 per cent. The bank plans to invest up to S$12 million in Avatec over the next two years.

Pintec focuses on providing credit underwriting models. As at last September, it had helped to facilitate 15 billion yuan (S$3.13 billion) in loans in China through some 10 million registered users, Pintec president …