Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.'s consumer loan unit plans to open as many as four China offices in the next two to three years, more than doubling the number to tap demand in the world's second-largest economy.
"We want to focus our capital on China, where we already have a presence," SMBC Consumer Finance Co. President Ken Kubo said in an interview on Feb. 26, without elaborating on the location of the new offices. The company already has units in Shenyang and Shenzhen and is about to open a third in Tianjin.
The consumer lender, created after Sumitomo Mitsui made Promise Co. a wholly owned subsidiary last year, is expanding in faster-growing markets abroad as deflation deters borrowing at home. The company and rivals Acom Co. and Aiful Corp. are emerging from a slump exacerbated by a regulatory crackdown that forced them to cut loan rates and refund overcharged interest.