Banks Launch a Fierce Battle for "One-Person Companies"

Ask AI · How can banks solve the risk control challenges of lightweight asset single-person companies?

From loans to comprehensive services, how are banks betting on the AI era for “solo entrepreneurs”?

More than ten institutions have entered the competition for access points and ecosystems. Is traditional risk control logic still applicable?

OPC (One Person Company) is booming! In the past, startups usually needed partners, but now with one person and a computer, plus AI, it becomes 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 wave, banks are also highly alert. From account management to payment settlement, to tax invoices and financing support, the emerging financial needs behind OPC are drawing banks to seize opportunities. According to statistics from Nandu Bay Finance Society, the battle for OPC has already begun. So far, more than ten banks nationwide have entered, with banks in the Yangtze River Delta region being the most active. Some banks have launched dedicated credit products for OPC, while others are building comprehensive financial service models to provide “one-stop” services.

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 compete for 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 highly tied to the company’s fate, traditional credit logic does not apply. Upgrading risk control models is an unavoidable challenge for banks.

“Using old maps to find new continents may lead to asset quality risks,” warns an expert.

Who is seizing the opportunity?

Over ten banks are “fancy” deploying strategies

Sunlight streams through glass, neatly arranged office desks, with discussion notes still visible on a whiteboard. On the other side, an open discussion area and several enclosed meeting rooms are lined up.

This is the Guangzhou AI OPC community “Tech Innovation HUB” on the sixth floor of the Tianhe Base for Science and Technology Achievement Transformation. It is 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, including technical sharing, 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 has settled in the community told Nandu Bay Finance Society that they mainly do AI enterprise training, helping companies achieve AI transformation of traditional businesses. The community currently offers free office space and plans to assist with resource connections and compute power subsidies. “The community is recruiting projects, and a few entrepreneurs have already settled in. More like-minded people are expected to join, making the atmosphere even more vibrant.”

A relevant person from Guangzhou (International) Science and Technology Achievement Transformation Base also told Nandu Bay Finance Society that the base will coordinate 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 Guangzhou Branch, the bank provides dedicated services for OpenClaw founders and key individuals. For lightweight 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” assessing growth potential. For key individuals, they offer personal loans and exclusive credit cards for financing support.

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

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

Is this a trend or strategic positioning?

Essentially, it’s “entry point competition” and “ecosystem empowerment”

Unlike ordinary micro and small enterprises, OPCs are characterized by lightweight assets, no collateral, high-frequency settlements, and quick turnover. What makes the products and services offered 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 to build full lifecycle service systems that include account management, payment settlement, and resource linking. They are evolving from mere fund providers to “financial partners” of OPCs.

For example, Jiangsu Bank has launched dedicated financing products for OPCs and integrated account management, payment settlement, fund dispatch, tax invoices, payroll management, bill services, and ecosystem links into a digital finance suite, becoming a digital financial office, operations platform, and growth partner for OPCs.

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

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

Unlike state-owned, joint-stock, and city commercial banks, rural banks mainly provide 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 special 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 signifies 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 compete for future high-quality enterprise accounts and data assets. It is also a shift from traditional “fund intermediary” to “value discoverer,” lowering entrepreneurial barriers and actively cultivating high-growth potential customer groups to seize the financial service rights for the key production factor “people.”

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

“Rural banks’ traditional foundation lies in familiar local communities; serving returning entrepreneurs and ‘new local gentry’ is a natural way to consolidate their local base, not blind imitation,” Tian said. The real challenge 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 continents may indeed lead to asset quality risks,” he warned.

Policy focus

“Compute Power Loans” and industry-specific coupling

Behind the concentration of banks deploying OPC is policy support. Many regions have introduced special 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 Artificial Intelligence 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 emphasizes leveraging various funds to expand funding sources, focusing on high-growth AI OPC community enterprises, forming an effective fund matrix to support innovation. For full-cycle credit services, it 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-assisted investment and financing service system. The “Shenzhen Action Plan for Building an AI OPC Entrepreneurial Ecosystem (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 and financing roadshows and matchmaking mechanisms. It explores new models like “loans + external direct investment” to strengthen financial support for seed and early-stage companies.

Some policies also emphasize high-risk compensation to “backstop” banks and address the reluctance to lend.

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

Other policies reduce financing costs through interest subsidies and guarantees, focusing on solving “expensive financing” issues.

For instance, Hefei High-tech Zone offers knowledge property pledge, credit loans, and up to 50% interest subsidies through its AI special fund; Qingdao provides subsidies up to 300,000 yuan via financial products like “Qingke Guarantee” and “Qingke Guarantee Loan” for tech companies using linked loans and insurance; Shangcheng District in Hangzhou offers personal startup guarantees up to 500,000 yuan, enterprise interest subsidies up to 3 million yuan, and equity investment rewards up to 2 million yuan.

Notably, some policies mention “Compute Power Loans.” Wuhan, for example, includes qualified OPCs in the scope of knowledge-based credit loans and jointly launches “Compute Power Loans” with a maximum of 10 million yuan; Guangdong encourages banks to develop “Compute Power Loan” products to reduce the capital pressure of AI OPCs’ compute procurement.

Industry insiders believe that the emergence of “Compute Power Loans” indicates that financial policies are truly coupling 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 production bottleneck of unaffordable computing power.

A banking professional told Nandu Bay Finance Society that since OPC remains a new business form, launching new financial products requires approval processes, which take time. Currently, some financial products for OPC are still based on previous offerings for tech micro-enterprises. However, with policy encouragement and industry development, more dedicated OPC financial products are expected to emerge.

Risk control challenges

How to shift from “identifying bad apples” to “nurturing healthy trees”

Seizing opportunities is easy; deep cultivation is hard. Under the enthusiasm of many banks entering the market, some shortcomings cannot be ignored.

Tang Ningyu, professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University Antai School of Economics and Management, became interested in OPC after seeing many around her try to do it. Her research found that as a high-intelligence, lightweight startup form, OPCs face many adaptation issues with traditional market environments, especially funding pressure.

She explained that OPCs typically require small, high-frequency capital, and banks are seeking new growth points. Policy support has encouraged some banks to explore OPC financial services. However, traditional bank credit relies heavily on fixed asset collateral, while OPCs’ core assets are intangible—intellectual property, future income rights, and personal credit—making valuation and pledge difficult. As a result, banks remain cautious about lending.

Tian Lihui also mentioned issues in bank services for OPCs. He believes that there is a “generation gap” between supply logic and demand essence. The “person-entity” unity of one-person companies means founders’ personal credit is highly tied to the company’s fate, but bank products still follow standardized thinking, lacking precise tools to quantify “human capital.”

In practice, he noted that current products lack flexible matching with intellectual property and personal labor income; risk control struggles to dynamically capture soft information like founders’ 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, large-scale coverage.

Unlike traditional companies, OPCs generally have short establishment times, lightweight assets, no collateral, and often chaotic financials, making them vulnerable to economic cycles. If founders encounter personal issues, the company may cease operations. Will banks’ “seizing” of OPCs increase future non-performing loans? Can existing risk models cover the fragility of “people-entity” unity?

Tian believes that if banks continue with traditional credit logic, non-performing rates will rise. The core risk of OPCs 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 this risk, banks must shift from static “bad apple” identification to dynamic “nurturing of healthy trees,” establishing monitoring mechanisms for personal health, family, and other non-traditional factors.

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

Tang Ningyu believes banks can use AI to optimize risk models, employing big data to build multi-dimensional profiles of OPC entrepreneurs, enabling more comprehensive credit assessments. She also advises entrepreneurs to strictly separate company and personal accounts, 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 true value and extend credit more confidently.

“With the emergence 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 serious issues to face,” Tang concluded.

Reporting: Nandu Bay Finance Society Reporter Liu Lanlan