The bank, which received government approval on Monday, will provisionally be called “Sichuan Hope Bank”, as an English name has not been finalised, according to a statement filed by Chengdu Hongqi Chain to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Monday.
Xiaomi will be the second-largest investor with a 29.5 per cent stake, while Chinese conglomerate New Hope Group will own a 30 per cent stake and Chengdu Hongqi Chain will own a 15 per cent, according to the filing. The new bank has a registered capital of 3 billion yuan (HK$3.5 billion).
“The Sichuan Hope Bank will become the first mobile internet bank in central western China,” said a spokesman for the bank in a statement. “It will focus on the needs of the younger demographic and small enterprises.” source: scmp.com
Xioami involvement in modern banking system we should see it as the desire of Chinese firm to expand, but also as a necessity of the new bank to have a partner prepared to face the challenges of IoT.
If we look around us, we see a trend to ease carrying and confirming payments using gadgets. The time that we needed to go to the bank to make a payment is past. Now we only have, for example, to approach a smartphone to a screen to make a payment.
For this reason, I regard this involvement in the bank system as a collaboration in which all parts will benefit.