New Business Opportunity? Banks Rush into OPC, Yangtze River Delta Institutions Actively "Enter the Race"

AI · OPC Risk Control Challenges: How Can Banks Upgrade Models to Address the Risks of Human-Enterprise Integration?

OPC (One Person Company) is booming! In the past, starting a business usually required finding partners. Now, with a single person, a computer, and AI, it’s essentially a company. This lightweight startup model is attracting many entrepreneurs, and with policy support, OPC has become a new hotspot in the small and micro enterprise sector.

Behind this trend, banks are also highly alert. From account management to payment settlement, tax invoices, and financing support, the emerging financial needs behind OPC are drawing banks to compete. According to statistics from Nandu Bay Finance Society, the battle for OPC has already begun, with over a dozen banks involved nationwide, especially active in the Yangtze River Delta region. Some banks have launched dedicated OPC credit products, while others are building comprehensive financial service models to provide “one-stop” services for OPCs.

Experts believe that the core strategy for banks in deploying OPC is “entry point competition” and “ecosystem empowerment”: by deeply integrating comprehensive services into entrepreneurs’ daily operations, they aim to secure future high-quality enterprise accounts and data assets. Meanwhile, they actively cultivate and lock in high-growth potential customer groups, seizing the financial service rights for the core production factor “people.” However, since the founder’s personal credit is closely tied to the company’s fate, traditional credit logic doesn’t apply. Upgrading risk control models is an unavoidable challenge for banks.

“Using old maps to find new lands may risk asset quality,” warned an expert.

Who is rushing in?

Over a dozen banks deploying in creative ways

Sunlight streams through glass, illuminating rows of neatly arranged office desks. On one side, a whiteboard still bears notes from discussions; on the other, open discussion areas and several enclosed meeting rooms are lined up.

This is Guangzhou’s first AI OPC community “Tech Innovation HUB” on the sixth floor of the Tianhe Base for Science and Technology Achievement Transformation. It’s a shared workspace designed for high-quality projects in the AI native field. The conference hall on the first floor will host a sharing session about OpenClaw this Saturday, featuring technical presentations, practical demonstrations, and on-site connections between bank staff and OPC entrepreneurs, introducing policies, financial tools, and support for AI OPC.

On March 18, a recent OPC entrepreneur who just moved into this community told Nandu Bay Finance Society that they mainly do AI corporate training, helping companies transform traditional businesses with AI. Currently, the community offers free office space, and plans to assist with resource connections and compute power subsidies. “The community is recruiting projects; a few entrepreneurs have already settled in, and more are expected to join, making the atmosphere more vibrant.”

A relevant person from Guangzhou’s Tianhe Base for Science and Technology Achievement Transformation also told Nandu Bay Finance Society that the base will coordinate with financial institutions to provide unsecured, low-interest loans and regularly connect with venture capital. They have already signed an agreement with CITIC Bank to offer financing services for OPC entrepreneurs.

According to staff from CITIC Bank’s Guangzhou branch, the bank provides dedicated services for OpenClaw founding companies and key individuals. For asset-light startups, they offer technology achievement transformation loans and intellectual property pledge financing to address asset-light challenges; they also provide localized points-based financing, evaluating business, technology, founding team, and equity financing, transforming the traditional “three tables” assessment of tech companies into a “fourth table” of growth potential. For key individuals, they offer personal loans and dedicated credit cards for financing support.

In fact, with the rise of OPC, it’s common for banks to offer exclusive financial services to such entrepreneurs. Nandu Bay Finance Society’s incomplete statistics show that over a dozen banks have already entered the OPC space and have made their “first deals” and “initial loans.”

State-owned banks like ICBC Suzhou Branch and Bank of Communications Suzhou Branch have issued OPC talent loans, while Bank of China Qingdao Branch has opened a dedicated green channel for OPC. Among joint-stock banks, besides CITIC Bank, SPD Bank is building a comprehensive financial service model for OPC. City commercial banks like Jiangsu Bank, Nanjing Bank, and Qingdao Bank have launched dedicated OPC service systems and various conveniences. Several rural commercial banks in the Yangtze River Delta have also rolled out special loans.

Following the trend or positioning for the future?

Ultimately a matter of “entry point competition” and “ecosystem empowerment”

Unlike ordinary small micro enterprises, OPCs feature lightweight assets, no collateral, high-frequency settlements, and rapid turnover. What makes the products and services launched by banks for this new business form special?

Nandu Bay Finance Society found that different types of banks have launched vastly different products and services around OPC. Joint-stock and city commercial banks have gone beyond simple financing support, building full lifecycle service systems that include account management, payment settlement, and resource linking. They are no longer content with just providing funds but are evolving into “financial partners” for OPCs.

For example, Jiangsu Bank not only offers dedicated OPC financing products but also integrates account management, payment settlement, fund dispatch, tax invoices, payroll management, bill services, and ecosystem links into a digital financial office, operations middle platform, and growth partner for OPCs.

SPD Bank also states they are constructing a comprehensive OPC financial service model: from basic company account opening, settlement, and financing, to tailored credit, wealth management, and credit card services for AI entrepreneurs, as well as linking external resources such as policy interpretation, tech qualification applications, legal consulting, and non-financial ecosystem services like “Tech Lounge.”

Nanjing Bank has launched a special “OPC Tongxin Plan,” relying on their “Compute Power Loan” and “Xin Talent” credit products, to build a full lifecycle service system through “investment-loan linkage + ecosystem empowerment.”

Unlike state-owned and joint-stock banks, rural commercial banks mainly focus on providing flexible, quick credit products. For example, Jiangsu Shuyang Rural Commercial Bank developed the “OPC Chuangyi Loan” product, issuing a 200,000 yuan loan to an entrepreneur on March 3. Changshu Rural Commercial Bank also launched the “OPC Chuangyi Loan,” with five loans already disbursed in February.

Nankai University finance professor Tian Lihui told Nandu Bay Finance Society that seizing OPC opportunities reflects banks’ keen perception of “restructuring production relations” in the digital economy era. The emergence of one-person companies signals the rise of individuals as independent economic entities. The core of the strategy is “entry point competition” and “ecosystem empowerment”: by deeply embedding comprehensive services into entrepreneurs’ daily operations, they aim to secure future high-quality enterprise accounts and data assets. It’s also a shift from traditional “funds intermediary” to “value discoverer,” lowering startup barriers, actively cultivating and locking in high-growth potential customer groups, and seizing the financial service rights for the key production factor “people.”

For rural commercial banks, OPC is not their traditional customer base. Is their involvement following the trend or strategic positioning?

“Rural banks’ traditional strength lies in familiar local networks and social ties. Serving returning entrepreneurs and new local elites is a natural way to consolidate their local base, not blind following,” Tian said. The real challenge, he believes, is that the battlefield logic has changed: risk control must shift from relying on “bricks and guarantees” to digital assessments based on patents, data, and founders.

“If they cannot fill the technological gaps, using old maps to find new lands could indeed risk asset quality,” he warned.

Policy focus:

“Compute Power Loans” and other terms align with industry features

Behind the surge of banks entering OPC, policies are also playing a key role. Many regions have introduced special support policies for OPC, with some incorporating financial empowerment into their policy toolbox. These measures show different paths of financial support.

Some policies emphasize “funds + credit” synergy. For example, the “Guangdong Province Support for AI OPC Innovation Development Action Plan (2026–2028)” proposes broadening multiple financing channels, including establishing venture capital support systems and optimizing full-cycle credit services.

In building venture capital support systems, the plan advocates leveraging various funds to expand funding sources, focusing on high-growth AI OPC community enterprises, forming effective fund matrices to support OPC innovation.

For full-cycle credit services, the plan supports banks in launching AI OPC financial products tailored to different stages: startup, growth, expansion, and maturity.

Shenzhen also aims to build a guiding fund and credit-backed investment and financing system. The “Shenzhen AI OPC Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Leading Area Action Plan (2026–2027)” encourages funds focused on AI and robotics industries to target high-growth OPC companies. It supports districts in establishing seed and angel funds for OPC communities and building regular investment roadshows and matchmaking mechanisms. It also explores new “loan + direct investment” models to strengthen financial support for seed and early-stage companies.

Some policies emphasize high risk compensation to “backstop” banks’ lending, easing their reluctance.

For example, Wuhan’s “Several Measures to Support AI OPC Innovation and Development” includes incorporating eligible OPCs into the scope of tech enterprise credit loans, jointly launching “Compute Power Loans” to ease funding for high-performance computing procurement, with a maximum single loan of 10 million yuan and up to 80% risk compensation for losses.

Other policies reduce financing costs through interest subsidies and insurance, addressing the “expensive financing” issue.

For instance, Hefei High-tech Zone’s policies include a knowledge property pledge, credit loans, and up to 50% interest subsidies from the local AI special fund; Qingdao offers subsidies up to 300,000 yuan through products like “Qingke Guarantee” and “Qingke Guarantee Loan” for tech companies using linked loans and insurance; Shangcheng District in Hangzhou provides up to 50,000 yuan in personal startup guarantees, up to 3 million yuan in enterprise interest subsidies, and up to 2 million yuan in equity investment rewards.

Notably, some policies mention “Compute Power Loans.” Wuhan’s policy, for example, includes supporting eligible OPCs with loans up to 10 million yuan under the “Compute Power Loan” program. Guangdong encourages banks to launch “Compute Power Loan” products to reduce the capital pressure of AI OPC’s compute procurement.

Industry insiders believe that the emergence of “Compute Power Loans” indicates that financial policies are truly aligning with OPC’s industry characteristics. Previously, support for tech startups mainly involved general “tech loans” or “micro loans,” addressing broad funding needs. Now, “Compute Power Loans” directly target the specific bottleneck of unaffordable computing power.

A banking professional told Nandu Bay Finance Society that since OPC remains a new business form, launching a new financial product requires approval processes, which can take time. Currently, some financial products for OPC are still adaptations of existing tech micro-loan products. But with policy support and industry development, more dedicated OPC financial products are expected to emerge.

Risk control challenge:

From “identifying bad apples” to “nurturing healthy trees”

It’s easy to rush in, but difficult to deepen. Under the enthusiasm of many banks entering the space, some shortcomings cannot be ignored.

Tang Ningyu, professor at Antai College of Economics and Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, became interested in OPC after seeing many around her trying it. Her research found that as a high-intelligence, lightweight startup form, OPC faces many adaptation challenges with traditional market environments, especially in funding.

She explained that OPC’s funding needs are characterized by small amounts and high frequency. Banks are also seeking new growth points, and with policy support, some banks have begun to explore OPC financial services. However, since traditional bank credit heavily relies on fixed asset collateral, and OPC’s core assets are intangible—such as intellectual property, future income rights, and personal credit—these assets are difficult to value and pledge. As a result, banks remain cautious about lending to OPCs.

Tian Lihui also mentioned issues in bank services for OPC. He believes there is a “generation gap” between supply logic and demand essence. The one-person company’s “human-enterprise integration” means the founder’s personal credit is tightly linked to the company’s fate, but most bank products still follow standardized thinking, lacking precise tools to quantify “human capital.”

In practice, he pointed out that products lack flexible matching with intellectual property and personal labor income; risk control struggles to dynamically capture soft information like founder health and reputation; and processes are fragmented offline and online, unable to meet the demand for “minimalist” experience. This results in high service costs and difficulty achieving sustainable scale.

Unlike typical companies, OPCs often have short establishment times, lightweight assets, no collateral, and financial chaos, making them vulnerable to economic cycles. If founders encounter personal issues, the company may cease operations. Will banks’ “rush in” push up future non-performing loans? Can existing risk models cover the fragility of “human-enterprise integration” in one-person companies?

Tian Lihui believes that if banks continue with traditional credit logic, it will inevitably increase bad debt. The core risk of one-person companies is “key person risk,” which is inherent and highly contagious. Mainstream risk models based on large numbers can predict group probabilities but struggle to capture sudden shocks caused by individual entrepreneurs.

He suggests that to cover such risks, bank risk control must shift from static “bad apple identification” to dynamic “nurturing healthy trees,” establishing monitoring mechanisms for personal health, family, and other non-traditional factors.

“Frankly, this exceeds the current capabilities of most banks, and short-term asset quality pressure should not be underestimated,” he warned.

Tang Ningyu believes banks can leverage AI to optimize risk models, using big data to build multi-dimensional profiles of OPC entrepreneurs, providing a more comprehensive assessment of their creditworthiness and true capabilities. She also recommends OPC founders strictly separate company and personal accounts, avoid using personal accounts for transactions, keep complete receipts, and maintain proper financial records. When seeking financing, they should proactively demonstrate soft assets like patents and technologies to help banks better evaluate the company’s real value and increase confidence in credit granting.

“With the advent of Openclaw, more people will do OPCs, which is indeed a trend. But it doesn’t mean everyone should rush in, as there are still some issues that need to be addressed,” Tang concluded.

Reporting by: Liu Lanlan, Nandu Bay Finance Society