Chinese fintech company join hands with UOB in exploring Southeast Asian market

SINGAPORE - Pintec Technology Holdings Limited (PINTEC), a Chinese fintech company, and Singapore's United Overseas Bank (UOB) announced on Monday the establishment of their joint venture, which will launch its next-generation digital credit assessment solution in Southeast Asia.

The new company, named as Avatec ai (S) Pte Ltd, aims to help banks and finance companies to be more efficient and more accurate when assessing credit quality of potential customers, including those who are new to credit, according to a press release from the two parent companies.

It said that the new company's credit assessment tool harnesses the power of artificial intelligence, machine learning and anti-fraud algorithms to determine an applicant's credit quality within seconds.

Dennis Tan, chief executive officer designate of Avatec, said the company's solution is not only useful to financial institutions, but also enable companies in sectors such as e-commerce, telecom, retail and travel to offer financial products such as point-of-sale financing, and personal and business loans quickly and efficiently.

Wei Wei, founder and CEO of PINTEC, said the partnership with UOB will help the Chinese fintech company to expand further into Southeast Asia, where a growing demand for fintech solutions arises as companies explore using technology to capture growth opportunities in the digital economy.

"Our collaboration with UOB, a leading bank in the region, will assist us with the expansion of our fintech solutions into Southeast Asia," he said, adding that the business expansion in the region is in line with the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

UOB owns the majority stake of 60 percent in Avatec, and plans to invest up to 12 million Singapore dollars (about $9.14 million) in the joint venture over the next two years.