In recent days, the third-party licensed payment institution Fast Money Payment Clearing Information Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Fast Money") has been riddled with trouble.
On the one hand, the skyrocketing POS machine rates have caused user dissatisfaction, and on the other hand, individual consumers have continuously reported that POS machines have problems such as non-refundable deposits... In the process of communicating with many consumers, the reporter of Beijing Business Daily further learned that Fast Money cooperative agents had previously promoted POS machines on the grounds of applying for credit cards, claiming that they were free to apply for equipment without checking the business license; In the actual cash-out process, the system will even automatically match users to nearby merchants to avoid risks by altering transactions.
Price increase doubts, deposit disputes, illegal cash-outs, and sales chaos, these industry troubles are actually not unfamiliar to many payment companies. And is the fast money in the whirlpool of public opinion really as consumers say? In this regard, the reporter of Beijing Business Daily also interviewed Fast Money Company for the first time and obtained an exclusive response from the latter...
Rate increases and price turmoil
"Without any notice, privately adjust the rate, lose a lot of money in vain, and demand a refund of all the price increase amount" "The deposit is not returned in accordance with the prescribed time, the rate is privately adjusted by three times without any SMS phone notification" "No phone call and no SMS, privately increasing the rate is fraud"... Although the rate increase of fast money POS machines has been going on for some time, from the latest market rhetoric, consumer dissatisfaction has almost jumped on paper.
On December 7, the news about "Fast Money Company raising the POS rate to 1.5%+3" spread throughout the payment circle, and a reporter from Beijing Business Daily also found that a POS machine agent posted in the circle of friends saying that the Fast Money POS machine has officially raised the rate of all products to 1.5%+3 from midnight on December 7, which is much higher than the previous rate; There are even some agents who take advantage of this to put out advertisements to remind users to replace the equipment, declaring that "100,000 are urgent, fast money brushes all products to adjust prices, it is recommended to stop using fast money, quickly find me to replace the machine"...
What is the concept of 1.5%+3? Why is the market reaction so great after the price adjustment? Beijing Business Daily reporter interviewed a number of industry insiders and users learned that the previous fast money POS machine card rate is mostly around 0.55%-0.6%, to swipe 10,000 yuan, the rate of 0.6% of the POS machine as an example, generally need to pay 60 yuan of handling fees, if the price rises to 1.5% + 3, users need to pay 153 yuan of handling fees, the cost is 2.5 times higher or even nearly 3 times.
It is the users who react more violently. Recently, a Hubei consumer told a reporter from Beijing Business Daily that the rate had been 0.58% for using fast money to brush the POS machine, but it suddenly rose to 1.51% from December 7, and during this period, he did not receive any phone or text message notifications, nor did he have any reminders on the system page of his transaction.
This price increase is evidenced by his trading record. According to the transaction details provided by the consumer to the Beijing Business Daily reporter, a card payment in his previous transaction showed that "the transaction was successful 31655.23 yuan, the transaction type was card payment, the transaction time was October 28, 2022, and the final settlement amount was 31471.63 yuan", based on this, the card fee rate was about 0.58%; In its latest one, it shows that "spending 28,000 yuan, the transaction type is card payment, the transaction time is December 7, 2022, and the final settlement is 27,577 yuan", from the latest transaction, the card rate has indeed risen to more than 1.5%.
A reporter from Beijing Business Daily found on multiple platforms such as Black Cat Complaint and Baidu Tieba that as of December 15, many users expressed dissatisfaction with the price increase of fast money, most of which mainly mentioned that the price increase rate was too high, and the handling fee was damaged without clear notice in advance.
In response to the rate increase and whether to inform the issue in advance, the Beijing Business Daily reporter interviewed Fast Money and did not get a clear response from the latter.
However, an informed source told reporters that the price increase of Fast Money was not a sudden price increase, nor was it a decision made without any notice, and it had issued a price increase notice in advance, which may be due to channel strength, and many users did not see it without publicity, so the latter mistakenly thought that the institution was suddenly raising prices.
Although there are notification channels, as of the day after the price increase, the Beijing Business Daily reporter did not find the corresponding notice on the official website of Fast Money Company, and there was no reminder from the trading system used by the user, and the other party also said that he did not know about the price increase of the customer service.
What is the specific reason for this price increase? The person added, "The payment industry is difficult, in fact, many institutions are now raising prices." Fast money's price increase this time is not for the sake of rising, but to actively seek transformation and upgrading, and provide better services and products, so there will be some business adjustment considerations, which may be perceived on some users that the price of POS machines is rising, but this is actually the entire business of the institution is undergoing transformation."
"Since the beginning of this year, the increase in the rate of the payment industry has indeed a certain universality, which can be said to be the result of market competition and the influence of the general environment." Yu Baicheng, president of Zero One Research Institute, told the Beijing Business Daily reporter that the supervision of the payment industry is constantly strict, and there are many cases of penalties for violations by agent merchants, and the supervision is strict, reducing the chaos of payment terminals, and some of the supplementary losses and violation patterns in order to compete for the market are difficult to sustain. In addition, under the epidemic and other factors in recent years, some payment institutions have encountered pressure in their operations, and the operation can also be improved to a certain extent through price increases.
Wang Pengbo, a senior analyst in the financial industry of Broadcom Consulting, pointed out that generally speaking, the conventional offline acquiring and online payment service fee rate, or mainly 0.6%-1%, different industries and scenarios have slightly different charging rates, such an obvious increase needs to be clear what kind of consumption scenarios are used, he also believes that this move or related to this year's offline acquiring industry recession, under the premise of a significant increase in cost expenditure, increasing the payment rate has become the most direct way for institutions to increase revenue.
However, Wang Pengbo also mentioned that China's acquiring industry has the lowest rate in the world, profits are getting thinner and thinner, and the rise of barcode payment has squeezed the transaction scale of real merchants, to a certain extent, offline acquirers will inevitably increase prices, and the price increase is conducive to increasing their own income in the short term, and the performance is good, but in the long run, it may also cause merchant loss. But in general, merchants must be informed in advance, after all, merchants are actually the most rate-sensitive group.
What is the solution to the problem of deposit cashing?
Pull out the turnip to bring out the puree. In addition to the notification of rate increases, Fast Money faces a top priority of deposit disputes and cash-out risks.
Beijing Business Daily reporter in the interview encountered a number of fast money POS machine users feedback, in the previous encounter with fast money POS machine agent promotion, the other party mainly on the grounds of credit card promotion POS machine, at that time claimed to be free, do not need to check the business license, let alone network review, but in the actual operation deducted 299 yuan deposit fee, so far want to return but no one accepted.
Another merchant also said that as early as 2019, when the store was opened, it encountered a fast money salesman to promote POS machines, but there was also a deposit problem of 239 yuan, and it was claimed that a certain amount was enough to be returned, but it has not been returned for three years.
"After receiving it, the salesman asked me to swipe 299 yuan, and the salesman said that it was in seconds, but the result has not arrived until now, and the person cannot be contacted." "In the name of applying for a credit card, forcibly fooling the POS machine, and the money will not be returned after collection." Judging from user feedback, similar problems have occurred in many merchants and even individual consumers.
From the feedback of many fast money users interviewed by the Beijing Business Daily reporter, the main purpose of the POS machine was for self-use, cash out through credit cards for capital turnover, from the process of its handling, users do not need to go through strict special merchant qualification review, nor do they have any information certificates and related training, only need to enter personal ID number.
In the eyes of the industry, such behavior has already involved violations. As Wang Pengbo told the Beijing Business Daily reporter, for natural person payment institutions must not directly sell POS machines, in principle, individuals, that is, natural persons without other attributes, can not handle the user's bank card swipe POS machine, must be a merchant with business behavior and consumption scenarios to handle POS machine; Small and micro merchants without business licenses can develop into small and micro merchants that acquire receipts through personal identity documents, coupled with some auxiliary certification materials such as business premises, and acquirers can provide them with basic sales collection services for daily operations.
"Therefore, selling POS machines directly to pure natural persons and not for normal consumption will involve a certain degree of violation." For agents to operate this way, payment institutions must also have the responsibility of supervision. Wang Pengbo said.
In addition to the fake qualification review, the system will even change transactions for the set, and different amounts will automatically match different consumption scenarios. According to the screenshot of the transaction provided by the consumer user in Hubei Province, the transaction is displayed as a local gold store, and the card is 31,655 yuan, which is displayed in a local jewelry store, but these actual transactions are actually cashed out through credit cards.
This method of "matching merchants" is actually a commonly used cash out method in the industry, mainly trying to avoid capital supervision by changing transactions. However, in the eyes of the industry, this mode of operation may have involved violations.
As the head of the relevant department of the central bank previously emphasized, at present, the means of some market entities to change transactions are constantly being renovated, resulting in transaction information that is difficult to restore the real consumption scene, which not only infringes on the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, causes complaints and disputes, but even brings opportunities for criminals to transfer illegal and criminal funds.
At present, credit card cashing is suspected of being illegal, and the crime of using POS machines to cash out is also clearly sentenced. Another person close to the regulator also stressed to the Beijing Business Daily reporter that "the POS machine access audit must be guaranteed to be a merchant, so that the set of codes that have no business characteristics and are randomly brushed by individuals is already a serious violation, and the regulator will further strengthen measures to crack down on it in the future."
Who is collecting deposits to make transactions?
Recently, in response to the feedback from many users that the deposit is not refunded, the POS machine is promoted to individuals in the name of card application, and whether the system is a matching transaction, the Beijing Business Daily reporter also interviewed Fast Money Company for verification, and the latter responded, "There are serious inaccuracies in the aforementioned situation, including but not limited to the fact that we have never collected a deposit from any user, nor have there been cases where individual salesmen promote related products." Fast Money always puts the protection of the rights and interests of merchants and consumers in the first place, adheres to customer needs as the starting point, takes compliance as the premise, actively seeks business transformation, adheres to the long-term path of sustainable development, and serves the real economy and people's lives with practical actions."
Consistent with the response of Fast Money Company is also the company's official customer service, Beijing Business Daily reporter to handle POS machine as the reason for consulting it, the latter clearly informed that the current production of POS machine for individuals is no longer produced, apply for the enterprise version need to have a business license and operate a store, when the reporter further proposed whether the personal application for the use of credit cards, the customer service said that the POS machine has nothing to do with credit cards, and the official has not been able to provide, if there is a demand, you can directly contact the service agent to see if there is inventory.
Judging from the feedback of many consumers, most of them pointed the POS deposit problem to the licensed payment institution Fast Money; However, from the perspective of fast money response and many industry insiders, there is also a lot of responsibility for the agent exhibition industry. In addition, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily tried to interview the agent staff, but many users informed that the agent staff who promoted them had disappeared.
"Generally, the exhibitor will use the first deposit freezing method to recover the hardware cost of the POS machine, so the user's first deposit should be withheld by the payment institution or agent. If the deposit is never returned to the user, it may be suspected of fraud and false promotion. Li Ya, a lawyer at Beijing Zhongwen Law Firm, told Beijing Business Daily.
However, the aforementioned insider pointed out that "Fast Money never collects a deposit when it comes to the industry, but there are also cases where some other brands collect deposits in the process of promotion in the name of Fast Money, and there have been similar cases before; In addition, in the payment industry, it is indeed not ruled out that there are some agents in the process of exhibition, there are some non-standard behaviors, once Fast Money finds that there are corresponding violations, it will return the agent as soon as possible, and will require it to do follow-up work for users."
Wang Pengbo said, "The deposit is not paid may be caused by false publicity by offline agents, in order to induce cardholders to apply for POS machines and increase sales performance."
At present, the outsourcing market of the payment industry is mixed. In the eyes of the industry, the POS machine exhibition industry is chaotic, in addition to the management loopholes of payment institutions, the responsibility of relevant outsourcing service providers should also be held accountable. Third-party payment institutions providing POS machine services should clearly indicate that there is a risk of violations of laws and regulations, and monitor and stop fictitious transactions and illegal practices during the use of POS machines.
A multi-pronged approach to strengthen compliance governance
Before the turmoil in many exhibition industries, in fact, Fast Money itself had been issued huge fines by supervision.
Previously, on February 7, the administrative penalty information disclosure form disclosed by the Shanghai headquarters of the central bank showed that Fast Money was fined 10.04 million yuan and ordered to make corrections within a time limit for four illegal acts, including violating account management regulations, violating liquidation management regulations, failing to perform customer identification obligations in accordance with regulations, and trading with unidentified customers.
Although it was disclosed in 2022, Fast Money Company told Beijing Business Daily that this penalty is the result of the problems found in the central bank's comprehensive inspection of Fast Money in 2020. Fast Money set up a special rectification team for the first time in that year, comprehensively and deeply self-examined and rectified according to the requirements of supervision, formulated a detailed improvement plan, and completed the rectification of all problems in a timely manner while ensuring the smooth operation of the business.
"We will take this as a warning to actively implement various regulatory requirements, improve corporate governance, upgrade system capabilities, optimize service processes, and further improve the compliance level of the company's business operations." Fast Money said.
In fact, not only fast money companies, but also many payment companies have received huge fines in recent years, highlighting compliance concerns. Yu Baicheng told the Beijing Business Daily reporter that the business competition in the field of third-party payment is fierce, and some payment institutions may be lax in the access and management of special merchants in the face of operational pressure, but in fact, the gains may outweigh the losses.
For the compliance governance of follow-up institutions, the previous regulatory notice has made it clear that there are four requirements for the management of special merchants of payment institutions, one is strict special merchant review, the other is strict acceptance terminal management, the third is to strengthen the risk monitoring of acquiring business, and the fourth is to improve the classification inspection mechanism of special merchants.
Li Ya believes that payment institutions should first regulate from the aspect of system, for example, for the types of transactions with higher risk, it is necessary to formulate a special risk management system, implement a real-name management system for special merchants, and establish an inspection system for special merchants.
Secondly, various measures should be implemented in accordance with the system, such as the establishment of a acquiring transaction risk monitoring system, the establishment of a special merchant information management system, etc., to strengthen the management of acquiring business with the help of scientific means.
Finally, institutions should be vigilant against various red lines, institutions must not misappropriate the funds to be settled by special merchants, and if it is discovered that special merchants have suspected risk events such as bank card cashing, money laundering, fraud, etc., they should immediately take corresponding measures, and if suspected violations and crimes are discovered, they should promptly report the case to the public security organs.
It is suggested that payment institutions should strengthen internal control of enterprises, enhance the risk compliance awareness of relevant personnel, and hire a special legal counsel team to prevent and deal with risks in advance. The first is to improve the internal management mechanism, and the second is to establish a compliance risk control department; The third is to carry out regular staff training. Li Ya said.
Wang Pengbo said that payment institutions should still strictly abide by relevant laws and regulations, such as the "Regulations on the Administration of Payment Acceptance Terminals", and form a linkage mechanism with banks to strengthen the awareness of risk prevention and strengthen the management of agents.
Beijing Business Daily reporter Liu Sihong