Channel lending in China, albeit sprawling, is still caught in a regulatory no-man's land, reports online news service Caixin (paywall). Chinese banks have been skirting more-stringent requirements on capital and loan-loss provisioning by disguising loans routed through non-banks, or so-called "channels," as asset-management plans. The so-called AMPs fetch high returns from investing in high-risk local government financing vehicles, less-capitalised property projects, or companies whose credit profile is too weak to secure conventional bank loans. The AMP-disguised loans, as a result, have managed to stay off the radar of traditional debt indicators. Tech companies, retailers and price comparison websites could become major banking brands, reports Finextra, citing research and comments from Deloitte's UK head of banking. Research commissioned from 2000 UK adults by YouGov shows that 58 per cent of consumers with mobile banking say being able to complete more banking-related actions through their app would be an important factor in persuading them to switch to a mobile-only institution. Forty-nine per cent would trust a mobile app from a digital payments provider for managing their financial accounts and services, while 43 per cent would trust a mobile app from a traditional retailer.