CreditEase Invests in Cross River, a Leading FinTech Innovator

BEIJING, Dec. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- CreditEase, a Beijing-based leading FinTech conglomerate in China, announced today that its direct investment arm, CreditEase FinTech Investment Fund (CEFIF), participated in the recent $100 million funding round of Cross River Bank ("Cross River"), a fast-growing provider of banking services for financial technology companies together with KKR, Lion Tree Partners, Battery Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Ribbit Capital, and others.

This additional funding will enable Cross River to invest in its continued growth by expanding its technology and product development teams as well as its compliance infrastructure. The capital will also allow Cross River to continue building and enhancing a complete banking platform where FinTech companies can leverage best-in-class banking technology coupled with compliance excellence.

Cross River combines innovative technologies with the trust, security and established expertise of a bank to create new services and solutions for FinTech companies by giving them access to a full suite of banking solutions and services. Cross River has developed partnerships with FinTech leaders in marketplace lending and payment processing arenas such as Affirm, Best Egg, Upstart, RocketLoans, Coinbase, and TransferWise.

"We are very pleased that our growth and progress has the endorsement of leading investors such as KKR," said Gilles Gade, founder, CEO and Chairman of Cross River. "We are also excited to welcome CreditEase and Lion Tree Partners as new investors with deep experience and insights in the FinTech industry. This is a very strong signal that we continue to execute on our plan and are poised to take Cross River through its next phase of successful development here in the U.S. and across the globe."

Ms. Anju Patwardhan, Managing Director of CEFIF, said, "Cross River is a proven bank innovator, focused on partnering with leading FinTech companies. We are very pleased to partner with Gilles Gade and the management team at Cross River."

CEFIF continues to receive global recognition and honors since it was established three years ago. The Fund has invested in over 40 FinTech companies globally since inception in areas ranging from wealth management, alternative lending, InsurTech, payments and enterprise services. Some of its portfolio such as Tiger Brokers, Dasouche, Tradeshift and Circle have become unicorns in the recent years, while Funding Circle filed an IPO application and raised 300 million pounds which is the largest FinTech IPO in London since the global payment giant WorldPay has been listed on the market in 2015.

About CreditEase

CreditEase is a Beijing-based leading FinTech conglomerate in China, specializing in inclusive finance and wealth management, in addition to payment technology, marketplace lending, crowdfunding, robo-advisory, insurance technology and blockchain products and services. CreditEase actively engages with global FinTech innovators through business incubation, commercial co-operation, and investment. Better tech, better finance, better world.

About CreditEase FinTech Investment Fund

Founded in February 2016, CreditEase FinTech Investment Fund ("CEFIF") is a venture fund investing in FinTech companies globally. CEFIFI has an equivalent of USD 1 billion in the total committed capital. The Fund was recently ranked the 2nd "Most Active Fintech VC Fund" globally by CB Insights and also nominated for "Top Fintech Equity Investor" Award at LendIt USA Annual Conference.

www.cefintechfund.com

About Cross River

Cross River Bank is a fast-growing financial services organization that merges the established expertise and traditional services of a bank, with the forward-thinking offerings of a technology company. They combine a fully compliant and comprehensive suite of products into a unique banking-as-a-platform solution, encompassing lending, payments and risk management. Cross River partners with leading marketplace lenders and FinTech companies enabling them to focus on their own growth without hindering innovation. Founded in 2008, Cross River is a New Jersey state-chartered FDIC insured bank. For more information, please visit Cross River's website at www.crossriver.com or the company's Twitter @crossriverbank.

SOURCE CreditEase