This article originally appeared on our sister website, That's Shanghai.
By Ryan Gandolfo
For those of you with low credit scores in your home country, you're in luck!
Sesame Credit, a credit-scoring service from Alibaba's Ant Financial, was launched in 2015 as a pilot project authorized by the People's Bank of China (PBOC) to experiment with credit reporting. The fun feature is not to be confused with the 'Social Credit' program, coordinated by the Central Comprehensively Deepening Reforms Commission.
Alibaba's credit program operates similiar to a loyalty rewards or membership card as your score is primarily based off transactions completed through Alipay and publicly accessible records.
The program is integrated with the Alipay app, which has over 700 million registered accounts (numbers on active users can't be confirmed).
Sesame Credit is based off a point system from 350 (lowest rating) to 950 (highest rating), and has five categories ranging from ‘relatively poor’ to ‘extremely good.’ But don’t be overly alarmed as there are no penalties for having a low score (other than missing out on some sweet deals).
Each Alipay user has the opportunity to opt-in to the program, or may have already been added by default. If you currently do not have Alipay, check out our straightforward guide on how to download and setup your account.
1. Download Alipay and locate Zhima Credit
Visit your preferred app store and download the Alipay app. Once you've done this, open the app and look below the four top tabs (scan, pay, collect and pocket) at the Alipay mini-apps. There is a chance Zhima Credit will already be there, otherwise select ‘more’ on the bottom right side of the mini-app section.
Screengrab via Alipay
After you select ‘more’, you can scroll through all available mini-apps to find Zhima Credit. It may be under recent or recommended apps. If you still cannot find it, simply type ‘Zhima Credit’ into the search bar at the top of the page.
Screengrab via Alipay
2. Start your credit journey
If you have not been automatically enrolled, the app will load a confirmation page. The page (shown below) gives a brief description of the program and asks you to agree to the terms and conditions. Once you’ve agreed, click ‘开启我的信用之旅,’ which translates to ‘start my credit journey.’
Screengrab via Alipay
3. View your financial credit score
This page shows your sesame credit score as well as your credit record in the lower-left hand corner. Below are a few perks that users with higher credit scores can utilize. For example, users with a 650 or higher can borrow a U-bicycle without a deposit, while users with a 700 or higher can use PonyCar, a rental car service, with no security deposit. Those looking to rent a new apartment can even reduce their security deposit with a score of 600 or higher!
Screengrab via Alipay
The list of perks it quite extensive. The more you scroll down under your credit score, you will find different deals available for individuals with good scores. You can rent out quality electronics like Gopro and Sony cameras on a per-day basis, offering a free deposit to those with high scores.
Screengrab via Alipay
If you're interested in improving your score, the best thing you can do is use Alipay more often (after all, your score is a by-product of how you interact with their services).
At the end of the day, it's your call whether to make use of the cool perks.
[Cover image via Campbell Boulanger/Unsplash]
This article was originally published by our sister magazine That's Shanghai. For more articles like this, visit the That's Shanghai website, or follow the That's Shanghai WeChat account (ID: Thats_Shanghai).
