Why do life service software pile up to "borrow money"

With the popularization of mobile Internet and the improvement of financial technology, the reach rate of financial services such as online payment and online borrowing in the daily life of the public is getting higher and higher. A few years ago, ordinary people who wanted to get a consumer loan could only get it through the app of a bank or consumer finance company. In the past two years, even some apps that provide shopping, takeaway and other life services are trying to launch lending services. What troubles does this bring to users? Why do various apps gather to "borrow money"? How should Internet financial services develop?

Beware of the "trap" of lending promotion

When ordering takeout, the platform prompts that you can receive a coupon, and you can only receive it when you click in to find that you have to complete the loan; when watching a short video, the small pop-up window in the lower left corner constantly prompts you to click on the link to get a loan; even if you want to get a discount coupon when you take a taxi, you can only get it after taking a credit loan. Many netizens couldn't help but complain: "Nowadays, all kinds of apps seem to be urging me to borrow money, I'm really afraid that I will be in debt if I don't pay attention." How exaggerated is the "drainage" of life software for loan services, so that users can have this kind of evaluation? For this reason, the reporter downloaded some APPs to find out.

In addition to the more familiar loan products such as Alipay's "Borrow" and WeChat's "Weparticle Loan", even e-commerce, life, travel, and even tool apps that have nothing to do with finance have begun to provide loan business. "I'll use the Meitu App to edit a picture, so why do I need to borrow money from it. This wave of operations has made many users laugh and cry.

Not only that, but these APPs also take great pains to "help" customers successfully borrow money, and all kinds of strange operations emerge in endlessly. Many users have reported that they are prone to inadvertently trigger borrowing when using apps. "Sometimes the advertisement of the loan business is displayed after the payment is made, and the place where you click 'close' is very small, and you will jump to the loan interface when you swipe your hand to touch other places. "The elderly in the family just learned to use their smartphones to take taxis, but sometimes they clicked on the loan, and she didn't know if she had finished borrowing, or we quickly helped her close it after we received a call. ”

The ubiquitous "borrowing money" entrance does provide convenience for some people. Normally, when taking out a loan from a bank or other financial institution, the borrower has to submit various supporting materials, and sometimes it may not be approved. In contrast, it is much easier to get a loan on the APP, click "agree to open", swipe "face recognition", and it won't take long for the money to be borrowed. This flexibility is an option for users who need financial support in emergency situations.

It should be noted that the loan in the APP is usually a line of credit, although the interest rate is lower than that of consumer loans, but if it is overdue, the interest generated is much higher than the bank's mortgage. Industry insiders suggest that the loan products in various APPs attract users with low interest rates, and when users fill in various personal information, the annual interest rate will rise, and the annual interest rate will rise by at least 10%, and even more than 20%, and the cost of financing for these enterprises is often only 2% to 3%.

When the reporter consulted the customer service of a food delivery platform, he learned that the loan funds were provided by two small loan companies registered in Chongqing, with a daily interest rate of 0.02% to 0.065%. According to the customer service, the interest rate for most users is generally 0.05%, and the converted adult interest rate is 18%. Although the interest rate is not low, it is within the range of the protected annualized interest rate set by the state. When talking about how to deal with users who are overdue, the customer service said that there will be a 3-day buffer period. After the loan is overdue, the overdue penalty interest will be charged from the date of overdue, at 0.05% per day, until it is repaid, the longer the overdue time, the larger the overdue principal, the higher the interest generated.

Dong Ximiao, chief researcher of Zhaolian and part-time researcher of the Institute of Financial Research of Fudan University, suggested that ordinary financial consumers should try to find formal financial institutions if they need loans. If you want to take out a loan on an Internet platform, you must find a reliable big Internet platform.

An important way to monetize traffic

Experts said that, simply put, under the trend and trend of financial realization, this is an important way for the platform to realize traffic after gaining customers.

Lou Feipeng, a researcher at the Postal Savings Bank of China, believes that financial activities must be subject to supervision and have license access, and engaging in financial services without a license is itself a violation, and the rights and interests of financial consumers are not protected. Financial institutions providing financial services through Internet channels need to establish special channels, and the scope of cooperation must also be clarified and strictly adhered to when institutions cooperate.

Lei Jun, the founder of Xiaomi Group, said in 2017 that in the future, all business giants will be Internet companies and financial companies. Today's ever-changing competitive environment has prompted various platforms to continuously look for innovative business models, among which the introduction of loan products has become a new attempt by major apps. Industry insiders believe that there are many factors behind this move, from capital operation to user experience to market competition, which together constitute the complex motivation for various software to introduce loan products.

First of all, the introduction of loan products can be used for capital operation more efficiently. By providing loan services, the platform can convert its massive user base into potential borrowers, thereby increasing liquidity. This way of working helps the platform to better respond to market volatility and increase profitability. At the same time, through loan products, food delivery platforms can achieve diversified profit models with the help of users' repayment interest and other methods, reducing their dependence on a single business.

Secondly, the introduction of loan products can enhance user stickiness. Taking the food delivery platform as an example, by providing users with loan services, it has transformed itself from a simple food delivery provider to a full-service life service platform. This not only means a higher user retention rate for the platform, but also expands its business scope and further strengthens its market share.

However, this move has also had its own set of implications. For users, the combination of food delivery platforms and financial products can provide them with more convenient loan channels to meet some urgent or unplanned capital needs. However, this can also lead to users borrowing excessively or inadvertently triggering borrowing, increasing financial risk. For food delivery platforms, the introduction of loan products can bring additional revenue channels while strengthening their foothold in a highly competitive market. However, this also makes the platform need to take on more financial responsibilities, including loan overdue risk and regulatory compliance.

Dong Ximiao also said that financial services are not as good as they sink, and financial institutions and Internet platforms should take measures to effectively prevent problems such as "should not lend" and "over-lend" caused by excessive sinking and excessive credit, so as to further reduce the probability of "common debt risk".

Financial supervision and control should be strengthened to keep up

The Central Financial Work Conference stressed the need to comprehensively strengthen financial supervision and effectively prevent and resolve financial risks. Earnestly improve the effectiveness of financial supervision, bring all financial activities into supervision in accordance with the law, comprehensively strengthen institutional supervision, behavior supervision, functional supervision, penetrating supervision, and continuous supervision, eliminate regulatory gaps and blind spots, strictly enforce the law, dare to show the sword, and severely crack down on illegal financial activities.

Previously, the former China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, together with the People's Bank of China and other departments, issued the Interim Measures for the Administration of Online Small Loan Business (Draft for Comments), Article 24 of which clearly pointed out that small loan companies operating online small loan business shall do a good job in protecting the rights and interests of financial consumers in accordance with laws and regulations, the relevant requirements of the banking regulatory authority under the State Council and the supervision and management department. The business handling shall follow the principle of openness and transparency, fully perform the obligation to inform, so that the borrower has a clear understanding of the loan amount, term, price, repayment method, etc., and this shall be stated in the contract. It is forbidden to induce borrowers to over-incur debt. It is forbidden to collect loans through violence, intimidation, insult, slander, or harassment. It is forbidden to collect, store, or use customer information without authorization or consent, as well as to illegally buy, sell, or disclose customer information.

This year, the financial regulatory authorities have completed the special rectification of Internet financial risks, and nearly 5,000 P2P online lending institutions have all closed down. Industry insiders said that whether it is public consumption or production and operation, the demand for online loans is still huge. Therefore, commercial banks, consumer finance companies, and various Internet companies attach great importance to consumer finance and increase investment in development.

"Platforms should adhere to the principle of minimization when obtaining customer-related information. Dong Ximiao believes that the information that should not be obtained is resolutely not obtained, and the information cannot be illegally obtained without the user's authorization. If there is a problem with the loan, it must be collected according to the law. At the same time, the disclosure of relevant information should be comprehensive, accurate and timely, and the relevant information should be fully and comprehensively and truthfully informed, such as where the information will be used after clicking on authorization, which institution will provide the loan, what is the loan interest rate, whether the interest rate is a daily interest rate or a monthly interest rate, whether there are other insurance premiums and guarantee fees, etc.

At the same time, the People's Bank of China Monetary Policy Implementation Report (Third Quarter of 2023) recently released by the central bank also pointed out that it will continue to strengthen financial supervision and risk prevention and control, improve the laws, regulations and institutional norms of financial supervision, strengthen the coordination and coordination of financial supervision, and improve the effectiveness and timeliness of financial supervision; The monitoring and evaluation of the financial market will detect and deal with financial abnormalities and crises in a timely manner to ensure the stability and security of the financial market. (Reporter Gou Mingyang)

Source: Economic Daily