China's postal bank expands petty loan business nationwide

BEIJING, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Postal Saving Bank of China (PSBC), the country's fifth largest commercial bank in terms of deposits, officially launched its nationwide petty loan system Friday.

The scheme has been operating on a trial basis in seven provinces - Beijing, Henan, Zhejiang, Shandong, Fujian, Hubei and Shaanxi - and more than 50 million yuan (6.8 million U.S. dollars)has been lent.

The petty loan system is tailored to individuals and small companies in both urban and rural areas.

The bank will begin to provide mortgages and consumption loan services next year, a spokesman said.

Founded on March 20, 2007, PSBC had registered 1.7 trillion yuan (229.7 billion U.S. dollars) in deposits by the end of October.

Currently, the bank has more than 60,000 business outlets, 280 million clients and 480 million accounts nationwide.