UniFi, a FinTech Services Platform for Foreign Students in the US, Surpasses $15 Million in Transactions in First Five Months

SHANGHAI, Oct. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The financial technology services platform UniFi, an exclusive service of China-based Maizi Jinfu Financial Services Group, announced that its transactions volume had broken the 100 million yuan (approx. US $15 million) mark since the app went online this May. UniFi founder and CEO Li Haolong said that UniFi as a business is beginning to take shape, marked by the expansion into overseas markets with its diverse portfolio of Maizi Jinfu's quality assets. This is also the first step in Maizi Jinfu's quest to target the educated youth and young adult demographic.

UniFi's entry point into the market is in meeting the financial needs of foreign students in North America by providing convenient and fast services such as getting students set up with credit lines and allowing them to obtain needed goods and services through installment payment plans. UniFi also gives foreign students access to a database where they can keep track of their loans and expenditures. The firm is in the middle of discussions with Fair Isaac Corporation, also known as FICO, a San Francisco-based data analytics company that works with the US' "Big Three" consumer credit reporting agencies, with the intent of setting up an exclusive system for establishing a credit profile and conducting credit evaluations for foreign students, so that they can build a proper credit history. Having such a history will allow foreign students to have an opportunity to realize their dreams on American soil, even start a business and put down roots in their adopted country in a meaningful way. UniFi CEO Li summed it up when he said, "We make dreams become more than just dreams."

UniFi Fills a Gaping Hole in a Market with Huge Potential

Students who complete their studies outside of their home country are often faced with immense obstacles in terms of financial needs. To start with, basic tuition, room and board expenses can be quite steep; then, the student who has graduated may have ambitions to start his or her own business, an act that requires some form of capitalization; one can be faced with an accident or emergency that requires an immediate out-of-pocket expense; situations such as needing to buy or repair a car, renting a room, moving, falling ill and needing hospitalization, all of these need access to some form of a flexible working fund.

The fact is, at present, there is almost nothing available in terms of consumer credit for the foreign student other than the American college student loan platforms SoFi (Social Finance, Inc.) and CommonBond, both of which offer little more than refinancing services for student loans. Students from China cannot even obtain the most basic of financial services, forcing them, when there is a sudden monetary need, to depend on the local Chinese community's loan sharks, and be forced to pay back the loan at usurious rates of interest.

As a serial entrepreneur, Mr. Li, the UniFi CEO, has made himself an expert on the world's leading edge financial technologies while also becoming keenly aware of the gaping lack of financial services for Chinese students in the U.S. In 2016, he founded an exclusive FinTech services platform for foreign students -- UniFi, a service of Maizi Jinfu, making a meaningful contribution to filling this gaping hole in the market. As a result, Maizi Jinfu has become the first Chinese online financial services group to expand beyond China's borders and serve the foreign student loan services market.

The biggest advantage of UniFi is its convenience, which aptly serves the real-life needs of overseas students. With a clean and simple app interface, easy navigation and clear procedures, loan applicants can complete the application for a uncollateralized loan for as much as 100,000 yuan (approx. US $15,000) in a matter of a minutes.

Moreover, UniFi lets its borrowers decide the time scale of their installment plans, with the choices ranging for 7 days to 36 months, allowing borrowers to choose flexibly according to their personal situation. Loans can be paid back ahead of schedule with no penalty, in tandem with a low monthly interest rate of 0.99%, permitting students to make repayment plans according to their own pace and meeting their financial needs in all respects. Chinese students in the U.S were able to successfully complete the loan application and receive the loan on the very day UniFi went online. The convenient process and UniFi's short period of review have been widely acclaimed, allowing the firm to quickly earn favor among the U.S.'s Chinese student population. 

UniFi Aims at Quality Assets Beyond the Borders of its Home Market

UniFi's parent, Maizi Jinfu, has been very supportive of its subsidiary's efforts in expanding into the foreign student loan market in North America. Maizi Jinfu is a leading Chinese online financial services group, which has focused on the research and development into online financial platforms over the past 6 years and whose proprietary "Water Drop" risk control system, a utility that the firm spent 7 years developing and constantly updating, welcomes Dr. Li Xiaozhong to its executive team. The former top technologist at FICO responsible for the China region as well as at Shanghai Lujiazui International Financial Asset Exchange (Lufax), a contract research organization, Dr. Li will be responsible for the further upgrading of the risk control system.

Maizi Jinfu has served in the financial services market for college students and business executives domestically for many years, serving a client base that comes from 2,856 universities across China. With a 62% percent market share, Maizi Jinfu has offered financial services to 30 million undergraduate students and young executives across the country.

As the leading provider of financial services to a highly educated group within its home market, it was only a natural next step to service an even more demanding group of the highly educated- the vast population of Chinese studying abroad. A group that already has robust purchasing power, are relatively more reliable in terms of credit and come equipped with an insured future income, Chinese students in universities abroad are indeed quality assets. In addition, the powerful "Water Drop" risk control system, an online loan service that is not constricted by the limitations of time and space, creates a level playing field for access to all types of information on loans and credit for its users, and simplifies the loan application and handling process, has duly come into being.

UniFi has signed a letter of intent with FICO, the data analytics company that works with the US's Big Three consumer credit reporting agencies. The tie-up with FICO paves the way for UniFi to assist Chinese students in the U.S establish a credit history and have their credit evaluated, which, in turn, will serve to enhance their U.S.-based credit profile and allow them to be able to obtain lines of credit similar to those of their counterparts from developed countries. Access to these services will assure them a future without a discrimination in terms of interest rates when purchasing homes and cars. UniFi also make it possible for Chinese students in the U.S to obtain an education from the best universities in the country, to get involved with frontier technologies, to have the opportunity to live a life no differently than their American peers, and above all, to have the freedom and the opportunity to make their dream a reality and to make a contribution to the future in our rapidly changing world.

For more information, please visit: www.theunifi.com

SOURCE UniFi