China's Ant Group shares credit data with central bank

China’s central bank will soon have access to private credit information of hundreds of millions of users of Ant Group’s online credit service, in a move signaling more regulatory oversight of the financial technology sector

BEIJING -- China’s central bank will soon have access to private credit information of hundreds of millions of users of Ant Group’s online credit service, in a move signaling more regulatory oversight of the financial technology sector.

Huabei, Ant Group’s credit service, said in a statement that consumer credit data it has collected will be included in the People’s Bank of China’s financial credit information database.

“The inclusion of Huabei’s credit information into the credit reporting system will help users’ credit information be more comprehensive,” Huabei’s statement read.

Consumers who do not authorize the sharing of credit data with the central bank will not be able to use Huabei’s service.