Pawnbroker - in Asia

In Asia

In Hong Kong the practice follows the Chinese tradition, and the counter of the shop is typically higher than the average person for security. A customer can only hold up his hand to offer belongings and there is a wooden screen between the door and the counter for customers' privacy. The symbol of a pawn shop in Hong Kong is a bat (the animal) holding a coin (Chinese: 蝠鼠吊金錢, Cantonese: fūk syú diu gām chín). The bat signifies fortune and the coin signifies benefits. In Japan, the usual symbol for a pawn shop is a circled digit seven, as "shichi", the Japanese word for seven, sounds similar to the word for "pawn" (質).

In Malaysia, a multi-race country, where Malaysian Chinese consists 25% of total population, initiated the Pawnbroker business. Nowadays, majority pawnbrokers in Malaysia are managed by Malaysian Chinese. In Malay, Pawn is called as "PAJAK GADAI". A valid and licensed Pawnshop in Malaysia must always declare themselves as a "PAJAK GADAI" or a PAWNSHOP for their company registration. They must also fulfill the requirement of Ministry of Housing and Local Government, where the pawn counter is not higher than 4 feet, bullet-proof and stainless steeled counters, stainless steeled doors, strong rooms with automatic locks, safes, equipped with fully computerized system, CCTV, Alarm and Pawnbroker Insurance. The picture shows one of the Malaysia's Pawnshops that is located at Changlun, which is the only pawnshop that closes to the border of Thailand.

In the Philippines, the operation of pawnshops is managed by private businesses and is duly regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Pawnshops usually accept gold jewelry, appliances, gadgets, etc. Many pawnshops in the Philippines have adapted other services into their nationwide branches like Cebuana Lhuillier Pawnshop.Services like international and domestic remittance, insurance, bills payment, b2b money collection, e-loading for mobile phones, ticketing, and even banking are not unusual to see in a regular pawnshop the Philippines.

In India, the Marwari Jain community pioneered the pawnbroking business, but today others are involved; the work is done by many agents called "saudagar". Instead of working from a shop, they go to needy people's homes and motivate them to become involved in the business. Pawn shops are often run as part of jewelry stores. Gold, silver, and diamonds are frequently accepted as collateral. Pawnbroking is also a traditional trade in Thailand, where pawnshops are run both privately and by local governments. In Sri Lanka Pawnbroking is a lucrative business engaged in by specialized pawnbrokers as well as commercial banks and other finance companies.