Several Chinese banks, including Sanxiang Bank, China Everbright Bank, and WeBank, are actively recruiting debt collection professionals in response to rising frequency of non-performing loans. This trend reflects attention being paid to financial risk in China’s banking sector.
Sanxiang Bank, a privately-owned bank in central China, announced on May 31 that it is seeking seven senior debt collection managers with at least five years of experience. Their responsibilities will include developing collection strategies, managing teams, and analyzing data to optimize collection efforts.
The move comes as Sanxiang Bank’s non-performing loan rate reached 1.75% in 2023, up 0.22 percentage points from 2022. More alarmingly, the bank’s overdue loan balance rose by 5.20 billion yuan to a new total of 13.41 billion yuan, with the overdue loan rate climbing to 3.61%, a 1.16 percentage point increase.
This trend is not isolated. China Everbright Bank and WeBank have also posted job openings for debt collectors. The surge in recruitment reflects the banking sector’s growing unease over loan quality. On May 15, the National Internet Finance Association of China issued guidelines for post-loan collection, advising financial institutions to strengthen their debt collection management and even suggesting the creation of specialized departments for this purpose.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), June 4, 2024
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202406040295.aspx