Online application for commercial to public housing loan conversion launched

Shenzhen homeowners looking to convert their commercial housing mortgage loans to loans under the city’s housing provident fund, which typically offers lower interest rates, can now apply online that takes just 10 minutes.

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Previously, applicants were required to provide 11 different documents, including the housing purchase contract, the original commercial mortgage loan contract, and repayment details.

However, with the recent digital upgrade of the housing provident fund’s system, hard copies of these materials are no only necessary. The upgrade has connected the fund’s system with 18 data interfaces from the government agencies including public security, civil affairs, the central bank, the real-estate registration authority, and commercial banks. The enhancement enables the housing provident fund authority to obtain the required information for process a loan conversion application based on personal identity, housing status, credit information and original loan details.

The conversion from commercial to public housing loans is only applicable to commercial housing mortgage loans. Previously, verifying the nature of the original commercial loan required original commercial loan contracts stamped by the bank, along with repayment plans and details. However, since some banks do not support cross-branch stamping, applicants had to return to the original commercial loan bank branch for a stamp. If that branch did not have a housing fund counter, they would need to visit another branch to process the loan conversion.

Now a collaborative mechanism allows commercial loan banks to verify selected loans, which are then compared by the housing fund center with credit reports from the People's Bank of China. Previously, after receiving approval for the loan conversion, applicants had to return to the entrusted bank to sign the public housing loan contract. Now, they can sign the contract at the same time they submit their application.

Currently, 10 banks offer the new service for converting commercial to public housing loans. They are China Construction Bank, Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, China Merchants Bank, Bank of Communications, Ping An Bank, Shenzhen Rural Commercial Bank, Citic Bank and Industrial Bank.

Applicants can easily start the process with their mobile phones. Please noted that electronic ID cards can be claimed through the "Yue Sheng Shi" WeChat mini-program.