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Societe Generale launches retail business in China

By Xu Shenglan (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-11-20 13:49

France-based Societe Generale has launched a retail business service in Chinese mainland, providing personal finance to domestic customers. It will also expand its network to 40 to 50 outlets in the next five years, according to Bi Pengfei, head of its personal and corporate banking for China.

Retail banking is one of the three core business areas of this Paris-headquartered financial group, which is currently the 7th largest bank in Europe. Its first such foray reflects foreign financial institutions' confidence in the Chinese market during the global economic downturn.

Societe Generale will focus on the financial services for VIP client and promote personal lending services in houses and various fields like cars, overseas studies, interior fittings, emergency cash service and so on. Also, it'll issue bank card products in China by the end of 2009.

Moreover, Societe Generale will help Chinese customers to better understand the overseas investment environment, especially Europe, with its extensive banking network in the euro zone, Africa and the Mediterranean.

Societe Generale will continue to launch business services in Guangzhou and Shanghai in the future, and expand to Tianjin and Wuhan next year.