Beike: Leveraging Fintech to Lead China's Real Estate Finance Growth and Transformation

BEIJING, July 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Eyeing the growing market potential, Beike Finance has become the leading consumer real estate financial service provider in China while serving over a million customers and families with its portfolio of financial services. As of early 2018, Beike Finance has facilitated over RMB 310 billion (USD 47 billion) in financing transactions, as well as payment and escrow services volume exceeding RMB 618.8 billion (USD 94 billion) in its platform, and has expanded to 29 cities and regions across China.

Starting out as the financial subsidiary of China's largest real estate broker HomeLink Real Estate Agency (also known as Lianjia), Beike Finance has operated independently since March 2017. Beike leverages its relationship with Lianjia to understand and solve multiple pain points in the consumer's real estate lifecycle. This includes payment services and loans powered by its proprietary big data systems and risk management capabilities focused on the housing vertical.

China's consumer real estate financial market is the largest in the world, with the total real estate transaction market valued over RMB 16 trillion (USD 2.5 trillion) in 2017. Estimates show that money consumed by financing property payments last year totaled RMB 8.6 trillion (USD 1.3 trillion). China's real estate will continue to parallel growing trends in urbanization, salary growth, and consumer spending.

Nonetheless, the financialization of China's consumer real estate has much room to grow. The financing ratio of consumer real estate in China has only reached 7.6 percent, whereas the ratio in the U.S. is around 36 percent. Thus, the vast majority of users rely on all-cash deals for purchasing homes. Estimates also show that if the ratio in China even reaches 20 percent by 2020, the financing market is predicted to reach RMB 50 trillion (USD 7.6 trillion).

Earlier this year, Beike Finance welcomed Ling Kong as its new CEO with the goal to transform Beike's technology approach in delivering financial products. Mr. Kong brings over 16 years of technology and management experience combining financial strategy and technology development into cutting edge fintech. A serial entrepreneur, Mr. Kong has been part of four successful startups - he was part of the founding team of two Silcon Valley start-ups as well as two China-based startups. A graduate of Stanford University, he has also led international teams at NetApp and Microsoft as a product manager for large-scale cloud platforms supporting millions of users. Since his arrival at Beike, Mr. Kong has driven the team to utilize scalable financial technology to expand and improve Beike's various loan services and financial products.

"We aim to use fintech to enhance user experience and hope to solve financial challenges a household could face," said Mr. Kong. "For clients who have good credit records, they can use our services no matter their age, income or social class. We hope to provide opportunities for our users to improve the overall quality of their lives," he said.

Through Beike's transformation, the Company has also won honors in the 7th China Financial Summit in 2018 with the title of "2018 Financial Technology Impact Brand."

ABOUT BEIKE FINANCE

Headquartered in Beijing, Beike Finance is the leading consumer real estate financial service provider in China. Starting as Lianjia Finance in November 2006, Beike has operated independently since March 2017 with a focus on the consumer real estate sector. Beike provides finance services in leasing, home renovation, transaction execution, among others. Beike aims to improve life for all its clients through appropriate products, innovative technology, and quality service. In the housing transaction business, Beike Finance has served over a million clients and has facilitated over RMB 310 billion (USD 47 billion) in financing transactions, as well as payment and escrow services volume exceeding RMB 618.8 billion (USD 94 billion) on its platform, and has expanded to 29 cities and regions across China.

SOURCE Beike Finance