, Columnist
China's Lenders Want to Check Your Social Media
Want a mortgage? Try unfriending your deadbeat pals.
Nothing to hide.
Photographer: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
There have generally been two ways to get a bank loan in China: You either have lots of assets already, or you know somebody powerful enough to pull some strings. That may be about to change -- although, at first glance, the shift might not seem for the better.
On Friday, Tencent, owner of WeChat (China’s most popular app and social networking site), said it plans to open a credit rating service, one that ranks borrowers by the "quality" of their online social networks. No longer will a prospective borrower need to cultivate a relationship with a bank VP to get a loan; instead, she may have to maintain a group of sensible and solvent online friends.