At present when the prevention and control work of the novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic is at a critical moment, the spring farming preparation also falls in the nick of time. While making great efforts to fight against the epidemic, the Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC) is taking active measures to meet the needs of rural areas for basic financial services through online and offline methods. It increases the supply of credit for agriculture, rural areas, and farmers, and opens up green channels, giving its utmost efforts to ensure the credit supply for the production of agricultural by-products and farming materials for spring farming preparation.

Tackle fund shortage related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers with online efforts

The epidemic prevention efforts cannot slack off, and spring farming cannot be delayed either. In order to overcome the inconvenience of travel during the outbreak, PSBC takes full advantage of its online products, answers proactively the financing needs of customers concerning agriculture, rural areas and farmers, and actively guides customers to apply online for loan services such as Express Loan and E-convenience Loan, providing more convenient and efficient service for the production of agricultural by-products and the supply of spring farming materials. According to statistics, as of February 16, PSBC has issued 109,000 transactions of Express loans with a total amount of 14.3 billion yuan (about 2.04 billion US dollars), and 163,000 transactions of E-convenience loans with a total amount of 39.1 billion yuan (about 5.57 billion US dollars).

Bian Weiping, a farmer in Lichang Village, Batou Township, Lankao County, Kaifeng City of Henan Province, manages more than 100 mu (6.7 hectares) of orchard and vegetable greenhouses. He originally planned to get some loans to expand his current farming scale and establish a freezer in this early spring. Unexpectedly, he is “confined” at home by the epidemic.

Just when Mr. Bian was worried, he thought of Yao Yuanyuan, a credit account manager from PSBC's Lankao County Branch, who had once introduced PSBC’s online channels for loans, and immediately picked up his phone. Yao Yuanyuan elaborated to him the “E-convenience Loan” service, where customers could apply for a loan online simple via their smart phones. In the end, Bian successfully obtained a loan of 1 million yuan (about 0.14 million US dollars), which has provided sufficient funds for his plan of expansion in this spring.

Such examples are not rare throughout the country. In Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, a famer named Zhang Wenhua urgently needed a loan to pay for farming material deposits. With the help of a credit account manager from PSBC’s Zhaosu County branch in Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, Zhang received 300,000 yuan (about 42,900 US dollars) through "Express Loan" service in just 10 minutes. "The loan products of PSBC are really excellent! They are fast and convenient. Thank you very much for that." Zhang Wenhua expressed his gratitude again and again after the funds were granted.

While providing online financial services, PSBC adjusts its business processes in a timely manner and grants credit via off-site application and inquiry to the rural customers who cannot apply for loans through online channels. For example, in terms of loan inquiry, some off-site inquiry methods, such as video inquiry, telephone inquiry, personal credit information records and third-party information inquiry, are implemented accordingly to find out customers' funding needs and sources of repayment.

Prioritize agriculture-related services so that spring farming will not be delayed

Yang Weiguang, a local rice farmer in his early thirties, has rented 625 mu (41.7 hectares) of farmland in some villages of Zhangan Township, Jiaojiang District, Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province, and also established the Weiguang Family Farm. He used to start spring farming right after the Spring Festival, but this time he is quite troubled by the lack of funds to purchase seeds and other spring farming materials.

Knowing this, the branch office of PSBC in Jiaojiang District of Taizhou City started the green channel to speed up the approval process in accordance with the principle of urgent matters handled first, completed a 300,000 yuan (about 42,900 US dollars) credit approval for Yang Weiguang immediately and informed him that the load could be withdrawn at any time. This initiative has well supported the customers for their spring farming preparations, and is highly praised by the customers.

In addition to the cases mentioned above, PSBC has taken various measures to provide financing solutions for rural customers. In Heilongjiang Province, Sun Tiecheng, the owner of a family farm in Changgeng Village, Wudalianchi City, has contracted 10,000 mu (666.7 hectares) of land this year. He plans to grow soybeans on the land. Before the Spring Festival, he signed a contract with the general distributor of seed, pesticides and fertilizers, and paid the deposit. According to the contract, the order will be delivered before April 10.

At the same time, in preparation for this year's spring farming, Sun Tiecheng also purchased several sets of farming equipment in the fall of 2019, which cost him nearly 1.7 million yuan (about 243,000 US dollars). Besides, he will have to pay the salary in due course for the 12 agricultural equipment operators hired from the nearby farms to overhaul some of the farming machinery on March 10 according to his schedule. However, the lack of sufficient funds has bothered him greatly, for the work can’t be done without money.

After finding out Sun’s trouble, the Wudalianchi Branch of PSBC, shouldering both missions of fighting the epidemic and promoting production, initiated the green channel at once. It actively contacted the agricultural credit guarantee firm to provide guarantee for the customer, which addressed the inadequacy of the customer's own collateral, helped him meet the loan requirements and lowered the threshold for financing. In this way, it has effectively solved the fund problem farmers are facing in their spring farming preparations.

PSBC thinks for its customers and responds to their needs. In order to ensure timely agriculture work and facilitate rural customers like Yang Weiguang and Sun Tiecheng to conduct their farming without missing the season, PSBC has set up a green loan channel to tailor, prioritize and streamline its relevant services, striving to help customers solve their fund problems in spring farming preparation.

In addition, for customers related to agriculture in rural areas, who have been affected severely by the epidemic, PSBC will make utmost efforts to support them in production resumption and help them tide over the difficulties by giving them preferential interest rates, additional loans, and extended repayment period.

In the next stage, PSBC will continue to give full play to its advantages of abundant outlets and extensive and far-reaching network across the country, commit to providing basic financial services in rural areas and granting more agriculture-related loans, and conscientiously guarantee the financial services related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers during the time of epidemic prevention and control.