"One-Person Companies" Gaining Popularity? Banks Rush to Layout and Hunt for Future "Unicorns"

AI · Bank’s Layout: What New Risk Control Challenges Do Sole Proprietorships Face?

Since the beginning of this year, the concept of “Sole Proprietorship” (OPC) has become popular alongside the development of artificial intelligence (AI). The organizational form of a single person representing a company has rapidly been promoted in many regions, with Jiangsu, Guangdong, Anhui, and others issuing consultations, and some areas planning policy subsidies for these types of companies.

According to reports from Beike Finance, several banks have recently launched financial support programs targeting “Sole Proprietorships” and are actively seeking OPC resources to provide financial services. Some banks openly state they are “very optimistic about the development prospects of OPC companies,” considering them a large and rapidly growing potential customer base. However, some banks remain cautious, saying, “While highly attentive, risk identification for OPCs remains a challenge.”

Industry experts believe that banks’ attempts to provide financial services to OPCs are based on forward-looking market trend judgments and are efforts to find new growth points amid insufficient effective financing demand. But banks must clearly recognize the unique risks of “Sole Proprietorships” and establish effective risk control strategies.

Seeking Future “Unicorns”: Multiple Financial Institutions Enter the OPC Market

Since the start of this year, with policies favoring OPCs being introduced in various regions, many financial institutions are actively supporting the development of the OPC industry, with various financial services quietly launching.

Changshu Rural Commercial Bank told Beike Finance that they are very optimistic about the development of OPC companies, given the active AI market in southern Jiangsu. With the widespread adoption of AI tools, “Sole Proprietorships” now possess complete business capabilities, greatly expanding their operational boundaries. Therefore, Changshu Rural Commercial Bank has developed a comprehensive financial plan tailored for OPCs.

This year, the bank conducted industry research on OPCs, focusing initially on three major sectors: AI + industrial manufacturing, AI + new retail e-commerce, and AI + professional services. They launched dedicated products such as “Chuangyi Loan” and “Computing Power Loan” for OPCs and opened their own banking scenarios for OPC clients.

According to Beike Finance’s review, Jiangsu Bank also introduced an integrated financial service plan for OPCs, based on comprehensive settlement services, centered around the SuYin JinGuanJia digital management platform. It integrates account management, payment settlement, fund dispatch, tax invoices, payroll and tax management, bill services, financing support, and ecological links, forming a full-cycle support system of “Account opening as a service, operation as data, turnover as credit, growth as ecology.”

Bank of Communications Suzhou Branch launched the “OPC Entrepreneur Talent Loan,” a pure credit loan with no collateral, a three-year credit period, and policies such as preferential interest rates and flexible repayment, aiming to provide strong financial support for making Suzhou the “first choice city for OPC startups.”

Additionally, several banks including Nanjing Bank, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Qingdao Branch, and Qingdao Bank have also announced their involvement, with account opening, payment settlement, and credit loans becoming key services supporting OPC companies.

“Although OPCs are still in the early stages of development, the next ‘unicorn’ in the tech field might be among these OPCs,” an internal source from a city commercial bank in East China told Beike Finance. “Whoever can quickly provide them with basic financial services like account opening, settlement, and credit will be able to establish long-term cooperation with these potentially future ‘unicorn’ companies. Meanwhile, this also aligns with the policy guidance from financial regulators on ‘first-time borrowers.’”

Tian Lihui, Director of the Financial Development Research Institute at Nankai University, believes that the rise of “Sole Proprietorships” is an inevitable result of AI technology reshaping production relations and a manifestation of “new quality productive forces” at the micro level. The involvement of banks in this track marks a significant shift from “asset-heavy collateral” to “technological credit.”

“Let the Bullets Fly for a While”: Some Banks Choose to “Closely Monitor”

Unlike the banks mentioned above, some responsible persons in bank technology finance express concerns about the risks of banks engaging with OPC companies.

A technology finance officer from a bank in Jiangsu stated outright that their bank currently adopts a wait-and-see attitude toward the development of “Sole Proprietorships.”

“Banks are also highly attentive to OPC development, but from a credit perspective, OPCs often vary in quality, and risk identification remains one of the key challenges,” the officer said. “Currently, AI applications span many fields, and some ‘Sole Proprietorships’ in certain sectors face a ‘ceiling’ in development. Immaturity and lack of clarity are unavoidable issues in bank dealings with OPCs.” Therefore, her bank’s strategy is to “let the bullets fly for a while,” while offering credit products tailored for OPCs and providing services like account opening and payment settlement.

No trend is free of opportunists. Currently, many training institutions and incubators claiming to support “Sole Proprietorships” are popping up, selling expensive courses or charging entry fees. Registering a company is easy, but success is not. The development of OPC financial opportunities comes with both challenges and risks.

Another banking professional from East China told Beike Finance that their bank has not yet launched specific OPC services, citing high risks and the need for further observation.

Dong Ximiao, Chief Economist at Zhaolian and Deputy Director of the Shanghai Financial and Development Laboratory, stated that for banks, it is essential to accurately identify and empower this emerging “super individual” group. Traditional evaluation methods centered on fixed assets and financial statements are almost ineffective for “Sole Proprietorships.” Banks should establish a new multi-dimensional credit profile model, transforming soft information such as industry outlook, intellectual property, technical solutions, core algorithms, order contracts, and personal credit into quantifiable credit indicators for scientific evaluation and precise identification of promising OPCs. Banks must clearly recognize the particular risks of “Sole Proprietorships” and develop effective risk control strategies.

Tian Lihui also pointed out that the rise of sole proprietorships has a profound industrial logic. The “one person + AI” model enables individuals to independently complete R&D, design, and marketing processes, directly addressing niche needs in vertical fields. Some banks are conducting pure credit lending based on five-dimensional profiles of the actual controller, intellectual property, and industry prospects. This indicates a shift from being merely “funding providers” to becoming “digital financial offices and growth partners,” using technology to solve the core pain point of light-asset entrepreneurs lacking collateral and facing difficulties in obtaining first-time loans.

“The mutual advancement of sole proprietorships and banking service upgrades is a healthy interaction,” Tian said. “It is not a fleeting gimmick nor a bubble without risks, but an inevitable outcome of financial services sinking to the smallest economic units. When every creative and tech-savvy individual can access financial empowerment, microscopic vitality will translate into macroeconomic resilience.”