Tencent starts private bank recruit

Internet giant Tencent Holdings started a recruitment campaign on Thursday for its private bank in Shenzhen's Qianhai special economic zone, South China's Guangdong Province, putting it one step closer to entering the banking business.

A total of 100 vacancies in WeBank, jointly initiated by Tencent and two Shenzhen-based firms - Liye Group and Baiyeyuan Investment Co, have been open to applicants since 3 pm on Thursday, according to information posted on recruitment website lagou.com.

The vacancies are mainly for senior IT engineers, data analysts, fraud management professionals and accountants, with monthly salaries ranging from 10,000 yuan ($1,630) to 30,000 yuan.

The recruitment campaign showed that Tencent has sped up its banking business, after China's top banking regulator approved the establishment of the bank in July.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has approved the establishment of three private banks, which also include one in Wenzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province and another in North China's Tianjin, the commission's chairman Shang Fulin told a conference on July 25.

Tencent holds a 30 percent stake in the bank, while its two partners each hold a 20 percent stake respectively, and the rest will be owned by small investors, according to the CSRC.

In its statement released on July 26, Tencent said it will still take at least six to 12 months to get a banking license.

WeBank will provide banking services to individuals and small and medium-sized companies, and Tencent will cooperate with WeBank in the field of Internet finance.

Tencent did not answer inquiries from the Global Times as of press time on Thursday.

Gu Min, chairman of WeBank, told a financial forum held in Shanghai on September 19 that the technology and data-based bank will complete preparation work by the end of this year, financial news portal caixin.com reported.

He also noted that the bank will mainly serve China's middle and lower-middle classes instead of competing with commercial banks for the super-rich's wealth management or private banking business, the report said.

"WeBank is likely to provide lending to individual consumers and small business, which big banks are reluctant to lend to due to low profitability and high risks," Ma Tao, an analyst with IT consultancy Analysys International, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Tencent will take advantage of big data to find potential clients from its large user base and lower lending risks. That's why it plans to hire data analysts, Ma said.

China has picked a batch of private companies to set up five private banks on a trial basis, with e-commerce giant Alibaba Group also having been selected to take part in the pilot program.

"The establishment of private banks are mainly envisioned to supplement the existing financial system, therefore private banks will be generally targeting small and micro-sized clients," David He, a Hong Kong-based principal at the Boston Consulting Group, told the Global Times Thursday.

He estimated that the asset size of a privately owned bank is expected to reach 100 billion yuan after five years of operation in the country.

A multiple of this figure taking into account the banking regulator' recent approval of several private banks would still hardly be a threat to the existing financial institutions, which will soon top 200 trillion yuan in assets, he noted.