Beijing:
Over 20,000 college students in a central Chinese city, who took high interest loans to buy electronic devices, mainly Apple products, are now finding it difficult to pay back the money, the state media reported today.
Since last year students have applied for loans with a total value of 160 million yuan (about USD 25.76 million) from Home Credit China (HC China).
"We have lost touch with about 100 of them, getting no response to calls or letters reminding them about delayed payments," said Liu Mingwei, Wuhan regional manager with HC China, on Wednesday.
With around one million students in Wuhan, it means about one in 50 of them are shouldering HC China's heavy annual interest rates of up to 47.12 per cent on a 12-month-term loan, state run Xinhua reported.
About 90 per cent of the credit was used to buy Apple products, such as iPhones and iPads, Li said.
Home Credit China provides credit loans in nine, 12 and 15-month terms for college and university students. Students must provide an ID card, bank card and student ID card to be eligible for the loan.