Founded by WeLab, a finance startup, WeLend is the first social lending platform based in Hong Kong. Since launching in early July, WeLab says it has received US$4 million in loan applications.
The social, or peer-to-peer, lending industry in the U.S. has existed since 2006, when Prosper and Lending Club were both founded. In mainland China, prominent peer-to-peer lending platforms include Creditease, SinoLending and PPDai. Despite Hong Kong’s status as an international financial center, however, there were no peer-to-peer lending platforms before WeLend launched. Simon Loong, the founder and CEO of WeLab, says the startup is currently focused on educating potential borrowers about WeLend’s services. Loong hopes his fifteen years in the banking industry, including a position as North East Asia Regional Head of Unsecured Lending at Standard Chartered Bank, will help WeLend gain credibility and grow.
Though informal lending clubs are common in Hong Kong, barriers to entry for peer-to-peer platforms include stringent financial regulations and competition from dominant players in the banking industry such as HSBC, Standard Chartered and Citicorp.
“In the past when you resided in the same village, you’d lend money to one another. That’s the essential concept behind the peer-to-peer model,” says Loong. “It’s an interesting fact that we hear often when we do user education. People say that their grandfather’s generation did this in their village. Now we are looking at how we can scale that model by using our banking experience.”
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