Shenzhen Development Bank Co yesterday launched a mortgage where individuals can pay on a bi-weekly basis, a move which will boost the mid-sized lender's individual credit business.

The commercial lender is the first among domestic banks to provide such a mortgage, offering the loan in 18 cities.

Under the plan, a homeowner is allowed to make mortgage payments twice a month. China's banks usually require clients to pay back property loans on a monthly basis.

The new payment plan is expected to save homeowners on interest because the more frequent payments lead to shrinking principal and less interest.

The Guangdong Province lender has been preparing the product for the past three months. It got the idea from banks in Western countries as well as from the General Electric Co, the US giant which holds a 7 percent stake in the lender.

In the United States, for example, it is common for mortgage payments to be made either weekly, bi-monthly or monthly.

In offering the product, the Shenzhen-listed lender wants to appeal to more clients. However, it is not alone in offering such diverse mortgages to boost property lendings amid a real estate slowdown.

In February, China Merchants Bank started the country's lowest fixed rate mortgage. The range is currently between 5.73 percent for a five-year term and 6.09 percent for 10 years.

China Merchants is the third domestic lender to offer fixed-rate mortgages, following China Construction Bank and China Everbright Bank.

As real estate has slowed with the government's measures to curb the overheated property market, the cooling market has led to a slowdown in mortgage loans at domestic banks as potential buyers hold off in hope of lower property prices.

Individual mortgages loans last year gained 19.94 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion), 52.9 billion less than the growth a year ago.

Editor: Yan