Mochou Lee
Xiaomi is accelerating its financial services effort by launching a public test of its loan program.
Xiaomi Loan is a credit and loan service provided exclusively for Xiaomi phone users. The service will determine credit worthiness and grant loans to those who pass its assessment process without requiring users to pledge collateral, iFeng Tech reported on Friday.
Xiaomi CEO, Lei Jun, posted on his Weibo last Friday a picture showing off his apparent credit limit available through the service. “Amazing! I’m able to borrow up to a million bucks on credit but lets first try borrow 100!”
During the test period, eligible users will be able to access the loan service only after being approved. Loans will require real-name registration and attaching a credit card.
Loan amounts will differ between users depending on the results of their assessment. Minimum amounts will be set at RMB 100.
Xiaomi has tied its credit system to the usage of its smartphones and its MIUI platform. It is said that the longer the time spent on the platform and with higher frequency of usage, users will be entitled to larger loans.
Xiaomi says it will use cloud computing and artificial intelligence to collect user data and analyze consumer behavior, both of which will have a direct impact on final credit ratings.
Xiaomi sold more than 60 million smart phones last year. It claimed to sell 34.7 million smartphones in the first six months of this year, marking a 33% increase from last year.
Edited by Rohan Malhotra
(Mochou Lee is a guest writer at AllChinaTech.com)