Ant Group is once again in the spotlight, this time due to dissatisfaction from China’s central bank over limited sharing of data on its 500 million users.
The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) is «unhappy with [Ant’s] progress» with regards to sharing data, according to a «Financial Times» report citing unnamed sources.
In response, Jack Ma's Ant has blamed privacy laws as the reason, underlining that only a fraction of users have given the necessary approval before the firm can send information to the central bank.
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The PBoC is pushing for more data sharing from firms through methods such as requiring it as a strict condition for customers to access services. Ant is reluctant to adopt such a method for fear of scaring away its users, the report said citing current and former employees.
For now, Ant submitting transaction records that only include an aggregate monthly figure – a frequency which Chinese officials deemed too low for their risk management needs.
Data Overload
Despite Beijing's push, multiple ex-PBoC officials have also noted the Chinese central bank's inability to deal with Ant’s data.
«While Ant has thousands of data scientists, we have a fraction of that number,» said one former PBoC official. «How do you expect us to understand and maintain what they have created?»
«No one has ever dealt with so much consumer finance data as Ant did,» said another ex-PBoC official. «It requires expertise the central bank lacks.»
