China personal finance sector lags, but potential for growth huge - ACNielsen
China's personal finance sector remains underdeveloped, but every area ranging from personal loans and investment plans to credit cards and life insurance, has huge potential for growth, research firm ACNielsen said in a report.
The report was based on phone conversations with 2,500 consumers aged 18-54 in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Just 29 pct of the respondents owned life insurance, with only a quarter admitting to having any form of personal investment.
Personal loans were even less popular, the report found, with less than 10 pct of those polled applying for one during the last 12 months. Credit cards were used by 20 pct of the respondents, with card owners tending to be young males earning 2,500 yuan a month or more.
More revealing was the enthusiasm in the three cities for owning a credit card. Nearly 40 pct of those polled said they would be ""highly or quite willing to use a credit card in the future"", the report said, with 60 pct in the higher income bracket expressing interest in owning a credit card.
""Personal finance is among the most mentioned business sectors in China,"" Alistair Watts, managing director of ACNielsen China said in the report. ""We found a relatively low percentage of consumers using personal financial services, but quite a high proportion of them expressing demand for such services. That bodes well for financial institutions.""
The report said that demand for financial services varies between cities, with Shanghai citizens more keen to secure a personal loan, while credit card ownership was highest in Guangzhou.
Beijing lagged behind both in most areas, with its inhabitants least likely to own credit cards, most likely to spend least on credit if they do own a plastic card, and the most underdeveloped when it came to personal investment.
Finally, in terms of bank brand awareness, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) was the dominant name, with 50 pct of those polled using ICBC most often.
Foreign banks lagged far behind domestic rivals, with less than 30 pct of respondents able to name a single overseas financial institution. Of those that could, HSBC and Citibank were the most recognised.
""Many would think that the future of China's finance sector belongs to foreign banks,"" Watts said in the report. ""But the question here is that with the current low level of awareness, foreign banks have a long way to go to win over Chinese consumers.""
中国个人理财行业发展滞后 / 但增长潜力巨大
ACNielsen调研公司在一份调查报告中称，个人贷款和投资计划到信用卡和寿险产品等个人理财在中国还很不发达，但其增长潜力巨大。
ACNielsen公司在北京、上海、广州对2,500名年龄在18-54岁的消费者进行了电话调查，只有29%的受访者拥有人寿保险，只有1/4的受访者表示有自己的投资渠道。
该公司的调查报告显示，个人贷款并不受欢迎，只有10%的受访者表示最近12个月内申请过个人贷款。只有20%的受访者拥有信用卡，拥有信用卡的多数都是月收入在2,500人民币以上的年轻男性。
对受访者对信用卡的热情度调查显示，40%的受访者表示非常希望将来能够拥有一张信用卡，另外60%收入较高的受访者对信用卡也表示欢迎。
ACNielsen China常务董事个人Alistair Watts在调查报告中称，国内人士经常提及个人理财，并发现使用个人理财服务的人所占比例很低，但有这种需求的人却很多。
国内3个城市的居民个人理财的方式个不相同，上海人更倾向于取得个人贷款，广州人则希望拥有信用卡。
北京人在大多数方面都明显落后，他们不喜欢信用卡，即使拥有信用卡也不愿透支，北京也是3个城市中个人投资活动最不发达的地区。
银行的认知度方面，50%的被访者使用工商银行的服务。只有不到30%的被访者能够说出一家外资银行的名字，其中花旗银行和汇丰银行的认知度最高。
Watts在调查报告中称，很多人认为中国的金融市场将被外资银行占领，但问题是在中国消费者对外资银行认知度如此低的情况下，外资银行还有很多工作要做。
