Baidu said on Monday that it has made an investment in US fintech startup company ZestFinance, marking its second investment in a US-based fintech startup company within a month, tech website Techcrunch reported.

According to Techcrunch, Baidu has invested an undisclosed amount of money in ZestFinance, after investing around $60 million in another US fintech firm, Circle, in June. As per the deal, Baidu will use ZestFinance's technology to build a superior credit scoring platform that will be primarily based on its search data.

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ZestFinance was founded three years ago with an aim to convert big analytical data into accurate credit score within few minutes. This would in-turn help lenders to accurately know a borrower's credit worthiness. The firm is founded by Google veteran Douglas Merrill.

A quick credit scoring platform has immense potential in China, as the country still follows the traditional credit system that is highly disorganized and unreliable. China's credit market is also plagued with other problems like the absence of a centralized credit bureau and lack of banking facilities in many parts of the country.

ZestFinance's founder Douglas Merrill acknowledged in an interview that millions of people in China do not have access to formal banking services, and this lends immense growth opportunity for the fintech company.   

Baidu is not the first Chinese company to invest in ZestFinance. According to Fortune, Chinese e-commerce website JD.com also invested an undisclosed amount of money in ZestFinance last year. Over the years, several Chinese internet companies have entered into China's nascent fintech service industry. Internet giant Alibaba and Tencent are already operating digital payment services, while several other local fintech startups are likely to launch their products in the coming years.

TagsBaidu, zestfinance, China startups, Baidu Investment, china