BAIHANG Credit Scoring Company, the first private credit-scoring company approved by the People’s Bank of China, started operation in Shenzhen on Wednesday providing personal credit information services.

With registered capital of 1 billion yuan (US$156.52 million), Baihang was jointly founded by eight credit firms including the largest shareholder with a 36-percent stake — the National Internet Finance Association of China — as well as Tencent Credit and Alibaba-backed Sesame Credit.

It is a supplement to the State-run personal credit database that will collect and store personal credit information as well as create credit reports and ratings.

The company was granted a license by the central bank in January, and completed business registration in Shenzhen in March.

China’s existing centralized credit scoring system, the Credit Reference Center, covers around 300 million out of about 800 million potential borrowers.

Analysts believe the platform will help address the lack of records on personal online credit worthiness and improve the credit-scoring system in China. (Han Ximin)