On Sunday morning, take a look at the hot news.
The two sectors have launched financial initiatives to support the development of the housing rental market
The People's Bank of China and the State Administration of Financial Supervision and Administration recently issued a document to support the development of the housing rental market by strengthening the innovation of housing rental credit products and service models, broadening diversified investment and financing channels in the housing rental market, and strengthening and improving the financial management of housing rental.
Image from the People's Bank of China website
In order to accelerate the standardized development of the housing rental financial market, the financial management department drafted the "Opinions on Financial Support for the Development of the Housing Rental Market (Draft for Comments)", which was released to the public for comments in February 2023. According to a relevant person from the People's Bank of China, a total of 60 valid opinions were received during the consultation period, and most of the opinions have been absorbed. The two departments officially issued opinions on financial support for the development of the housing rental market, which will come into force on February 5, 2024.
The newly released opinions are clear and increase credit support for housing rental development and construction. Support commercial banks in issuing housing rental development and construction loans to real estate development enterprises, industrial parks, rural collective economic organizations, enterprises and institutions, and other entities that build and renovate long-term rental housing in accordance with laws and regulations. The term of the housing lease development and construction loan is generally 3 years, and the longest is not more than 5 years.
The opinion proposes that to meet the reasonable financing needs of groups purchasing rental housing in bulk, the term of housing rental group housing purchase loans shall not exceed 30 years. The Opinions also clearly support the issuance of housing lease operating loans, and encourage commercial banks to actively explore financial service models and financial products that are suitable for the needs and characteristics of housing rental-related enterprises.
In terms of broadening the diversified investment and financing channels of the housing rental market, the opinions put forward that the financing channels of housing leasing enterprise bonds should be broadened, the issuance of housing rental guarantee bonds should be supported, real estate investment trusts should be steadily developed, and all kinds of social funds should be guided to invest in the housing rental field in an orderly manner.
In addition, the opinions emphasize strengthening and improving the management of housing leasing finance, strictly enforcing the boundaries of housing leasing financial business, strengthening the management of housing leasing credit funds, standardizing the innovation of direct financing products for housing leasing, and preventing financial risks in housing leasing.
$6.4 billion in unused gift cards into executive bonuses
On the evening of January 6, the topic of #Starbucks's 6.4 billion unused gift cards into executive bonuses# rushed to the hot search list on Weibo.
According to the American "Fortune" magazine, a few days ago, the Washington Consumer Protection League accused Starbucks that in the past five years, Starbucks has counted the unused gift cards and app balances of customers into the company's revenue, thereby increasing the company's profits and increasing executive bonuses, involving nearly 900 million US dollars (about 6.4 billion yuan).
According to the Washington Consumer Protection League, Starbucks' mobile app and digital payment card platform resemble "involuntary subscriptions." Due to the minimum top-up amount, it is often difficult to clear the balance in a customer's gift card. For most customers, it may be a few dollars wasted, but Starbucks is making a lot of money from it.
A Starbucks spokesperson refuted this claim to Fortune magazine, saying that the company has always complied with laws and regulations.
In the secondary market, as of the close of trading on the 5th Eastern time, Starbucks (SBUX) fell 0.60% to $92.99 per share.
There are changes to the rules for ticket refunds and changes
On January 5, China Eastern Airlines issued the Announcement on Adjusting the Refund and Change Rules of China Eastern Airlines. The new regulations have been comprehensively adjusted in terms of ticket refund and change fees, scope of refund and change, and applicable scenarios, and the effective date will be from 0:00 on January 10.
China Eastern Airlines is the second airline after China Southern Airlines to announce the adjustment of ticket refund and change rules.
In the newly adjusted ticket refund and change rules, CEA has expanded the applicable scenarios for involuntary ticket changes or refund applications, including expanding the scope of free ticket refunds and changes, relaxing the refund and change rules for passengers due to illness, and adding refund rules for fare fluctuations.
Specifically, CEA will include factors such as aircraft type changes that make it impossible for passengers to travel, flight changes that result in flight changes, and flight stopovers that are subject to free ticket refunds and changes, and for passengers who are unable to travel due to illness, CEA domestic and international tickets can apply for changes or refunds due to illness, and the number of accompanying passengers who can apply for ticket refunds and changes together with sick passengers will be relaxed to 5 (inclusive).
If the price of the original Ticket is reduced after the Passenger has purchased a Ticket, CEA will allow the Passenger to purchase a new Ticket within 24 hours after the purchase of the Ticket through the same Ticketing Channel, and the original Ticket will be refunded free of charge if certain conditions are met.
In addition, for tickets purchased separately, if they constitute a continuous itinerary under certain conditions, the refund and change fee can be waived in the event of flight irregularity. If you purchase the wrong ticket through the online self-sales channels of the CEA website, App or Mini Program, you can also get a free refund if you meet certain conditions.
China Eastern Airlines said that the new version of the rules has adjusted the charging standards for voluntary ticket refund and change business, and the free refund and change regulations outside 30 days before the departure of the new flight are detailed in the "Rules for the Use of Domestic Tariffs of China Eastern Airlines".
According to the latest update of the "Voluntary Change and Voluntary Refund Fee Standard" on the official website, all classes can be refunded or changed free of charge 30 days before the scheduled departure time of the flight, 7 days to 30 days before departure, some classes can be refunded or changed free of charge, and some will be charged 5%~20% of the refund fee or 5%~10% of the change fee, it is worth noting that from 4 hours before the flight departure to after the flight, the refund fee is charged from a minimum of 10% to a maximum of 70%.
According to the class classification standard of China Eastern Airlines: F is first class, U is premium business class, and J is business class. In other words, under the same time conditions, the higher the class of service, the less voluntary cancellation fee will be charged.
On January 4, just one day before China Eastern announced the comprehensive adjustment of the refund and change rules, China Southern Airlines took the lead in issuing an announcement on adjusting the refund and change rules of China Southern Airlines. According to the announcement, China Southern Airlines will also implement new regulations from January 10, 2024.
Like China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines has also expanded the scope of free ticket refunds and changes. Factors such as the inability of passengers to travel, delays at flight stopovers, airport transfers, force majeure and other factors are included in the scope of free refund and change of tickets.
For passengers who are unable to travel due to illness, China Southern Airlines stipulates that as long as they hold domestic and international tickets of China Southern Airlines, they can apply for a change or refund due to illness, and the proof of refund or change due to illness will be adjusted to a payment invoice or a hospitalization deposit certificate (choose one of the two), and the scope of medical institutions recognized by China Southern Airlines will be relaxed to hospitals and affiliated medical institutions listed by the National Health Commission. For accompanying persons who meet certain conditions, they can apply for ticket refunds and changes together with sick passengers, and the number of passengers is relaxed to 5 (inclusive).
In the event that the name, certificate, itinerary, date, class and other information are filled in incorrectly when purchasing a ticket, as well as repeated ticket purchases due to misoperation, a refund of the wrong ticket may be granted free of charge if certain conditions are met. If the fare is reduced after the ticket is purchased, it is allowed to re-purchase the ticket within 24 hours after the ticket purchase, and the original ticket will be refunded free of charge if certain conditions are met.
In addition, from January 10, 2024, China Southern Airlines' voluntary refund and change standards for domestic tickets will also be significantly reduced.
Based on the face value, the cancellation fee for each class of economy class has been reduced by 5 to 40 percentage points. In the case of Economy Class R, for example, the fee for voluntary changes has been reduced from 100% to 60% under the current rules, and the fee for voluntary refunds has been reduced from 100% to 75%.
In China Southern Airlines' newly adjusted ticket refund and change rules, passengers who voluntarily change their tickets 7 days in advance will be exempted from handling fees for most classes, and only need to pay a 5% handling fee for economy class E to R classes.
Those who do not meet the conditions for free refund and change will be charged a maximum of 75% of the ticket price and a minimum of 5%.
Editor-in-charge: Zhang Qianyao
Proofreading: Wang Chaoquan