Opportunities abound for payment services in BRI

Financial and information technology service providers are seeking opportunities in China's Belt and Road initiative, which covers over 60 countries and represents a third of the world’s trade, Shanghai Daily learned on Thursday.

The BRI region is “shaking off geographical limitations and creating a new win-win platform,” said Deloitte in a report.

SWIFT, a global financial messaging service provider, said recently that 10 Chinese banks, including Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, have adopted its global payments innovation initiative service.

The service will improve efficiency, speed and transparency of the banks on cross-border payments and transactions, especially in the BRI, said SWIFT and the banks. 

Strengthening financial connectivity in the BRI is vital in driving trade and stimulating economic growth across Asia, analysts said.

The BRI also opens wider horizons for Baofu, a Shanghai-based startup offering cross-border payment and financing service.

With a huge user base of young people and a rising Internet population rate, the BRI countries have fueled the demand of payment services especially on “small-volume and high frequency” transactions, and Baofu aims to tap its  advantages in payment services for cross-border retail and e-commerce firms as well as related warehousing and logistics services, said Lin Yong, general manager of the startup's cross-border business.

Baofu handles foreign exchange settlement transactions valued at 1 billion yuan monthly, with its strategic markets being the US, Japan and Europe, said the startup.

Baofu’s parent firm, Mandao Finance, is applying for an initial public offering in China.