When Ant Financial, the payments affiliate of the internet group Alibaba, goes public, its potential $120bn valuation could exceed that of Goldman Sachs. Alipay, Ant’s mobile payments platform with 520m users, is innovative as well as valuable, having devised a new method of credit rating.
Sesame Credit, Alipay’s alternative to traditional credit scores such as Fico in the US and Schufa in Germany, is intriguing. It broadens access to loans in a developing market by monitoring people’s buying habits and social circles as well as their credit records.
But it is also troubling, as China has recognised. The central bank is getting cold feet about the “social credit” ratings schemes adopted by Alibaba and its competitors. The bank this month told Tencent to stop a national rollout of its rival to Sesame Credit after having encouraged such efforts in 2015.