ABC and Baidu Establish Smart Banking Partnership

The financial industry's smart reform is accelerating. On June 20, the signing ceremony of a strategic cooperation between Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) and Baidu was held in Beijing. Mr. Zhou Mubing, Chairman of ABC, Li Yanhong, Chairman and CEO of Baidu, Guo Ningning, Vice President of ABC, Zhu Guang, Senior Vice President of Baidu, and other senior directors from both sides attended the ceremony inaugurating the "FinTech Joint Laboratory".

Zhou Mubing, Li Yanhong and other senior directors from ABC and Baidu launched a strategic cooperation

The rapid development of finance and technology will bring a significant change in the financial industry," said Zhou Mubing in his remarks at the event. "In the current market environment, there is no better time than now for ABC and Baidu to co-establish a strategic cooperation in FinTech. Based on  our complementary advantages and strengths, we will hatch creative products and services, build digital technical support capacity, and promote the deep transformation of ABC's digital operations." 

"As one of China's largest and most strategically positioned financial enterprises, Agricultural Bank of China is the leading practitioner of inclusive finance," said Li Yanhong. At the same time, Baidu owns the world's most advanced artificial intelligence technology. Finance is a key sector for AI development, and through collaboration in AI Fintech, ABC and Baidu will usher in an era of intelligentfinanceforthebankingindustry.

According to the agreement, this initiative will focus on finance and technology including AI, smart customer profiles, targeted marketing, credit ratings, risk monitoring, and intelligent investing consultants and customer services. Cooperation will also extend to financial products and channel users.

At the event, ABC and Baidu inaugurated the "FinTech Joint Laboratory", located at the Internet Finance Department of ABC's headquarters, and Baidu's Financial Services Group. The lab will conduct in-depth studies on intelligent financial services. Guo Ningning and Zhu Guang also demonstrated the capacity of Baidu's finance and technology using ABC's mobile banking applications. The integration of AI and financial services will create a FinTech experience that is smart, safe and convenient.

Zhu Guang announced Baidu's "Three-step" strategy which includes enhancing the financial service business, building a financial service platform and developing financial technology. "AI is driving FinTech into an age of intelligence," he said.

Zhang Xiuping, General Manager of ABC's Internet Finance Department, said that the cooperation would employ FinTech as the pillar of support, ABC's financial knowledge as the core, and innovative applications as the keys to realize smart banking services for every customer.

Insiders believe that the mutually beneficial cooperation between ABC and Baidu will pave the way for a comprehensive upgrading of FinTech innovation, in which intellectualization will become the new direction. It also signals that competition in FinTech has moved to a smart stage governed by AI FinTech.