Recently, the topic of young people not liking to use credit cards has frequently rushed to the hot search. A number of credit card users told Aoyi News reporters that compared with strict approval processes and annual fees, the high penalty interest after credit card overdraft and the "collection chaos" are one of the main reasons why they choose to give up credit cards.
Screenshot of Weibo.
Netizens hotly discuss the "collection chaos" of credit cards
Why don't young people love credit cards anymore?" The "Consumption Reflector" column of "Aoyi News" previously released "Man Complains to Bank for Illegal Collection: The Repayment Plan Has Been Negotiated, and the Bank Still Sends a Letter to the Village Committee" caused heated discussions among netizens.
Screenshot of reader review.
Many people have posted the same experience with the post:
"Mine is the one who sent it to you after the negotiation two days ago, and called the village"
"Mine too, can contact me, call the village committee, company colleagues, friends, family, malicious abuse"
"I was also urged, and I called my family, my siblings, my parents, and the locals to call and threaten me to say no, and I felt really helpless."
"No one in my family directly posted the collection slip on my door, and the whole village read it."
"I obviously didn't keep the phone numbers of my relatives and friends, but I exploded the address book"
……
It is worth noting that this kind of "malicious collection" behavior not only seriously affects the normal life of credit card overdue users, but also affects people's trust in banks.
Screenshot of reader review.
Some netizens said:
"I'm not going to deal with banks for the rest of my life. "You can't sleep peacefully without a credit card! Don't have the slightest financial connection with the bank! Don't believe in any gratuitous benefits!"
……
Another person believes that "the bank uses the money given to the collection company to reduce part of the interest or liquidated damages of the cardholder, and the arrears may have been recovered long ago." ”
The rise in the non-performing rate of credit cards has attracted the attention of the industry
Since 1985, when Bank of China issued the first credit card in China, the domestic credit card market has been running wildly. Credit cards have become an effective way for many young consumers to solve the problem of "no money to spend". However, advanced consumption is a double-edged sword, credit card overdue is gradually becoming a common phenomenon, and at the same time, various "collection chaos" have aroused widespread concern and doubts in the society, and further increased the risk of credit cards.
According to the latest report of the central bank, in 2023, there will be 767 million credit and loan cards in the country, compared with 798 million in 2022, evaporating 31 million, a decrease of 3.89%. In recent years, there have been frequent reports on the Internet that "credit cards are outdated" and "credit cards are in the dust." Although it remains to be seen whether the bank's credit card business has entered a "trough period", it is an indisputable fact that the scale of credit card non-performing loans and the non-performing ratio indicators have increased. In addition, problems such as deterioration in service quality and opaque rates are common reasons for credit card complaints.
According to the disclosure of the 2023 annual report, the key indicators of credit cards of many commercial banks have experienced negative growth to varying degrees. As of the end of 2023, there were 97,118,100 credit cards in circulation of China Merchants Bank, a decrease of 5.6 million or 5.44% in one year compared with 102,709,300 at the end of 2022. In 2023, Ping An Bank will issue 1,375,400 new credit cards, a decrease of 694,700 from 2022.
In addition, the increase in credit card asset quality risk has also attracted attention in the industry. According to the data of the "Overall Operation of the Payment System in the Fourth Quarter of 2023", as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2023, the total outstanding credit of credit cards overdue for half a year was 98.135 billion yuan, an increase of 4.69% from the previous quarter, accounting for 1.13% of the outstanding credit balance of credit cards.
Some people in the industry believe that the increase in the non-performing rate of credit cards is mainly affected by multiple factors such as the decline in the prosperity of some industries, the decline in the repayment ability of some cardholders, the excessive credit extension of some banks in pursuit of card issuance, and the increase in the risk of credit card fraud. Under the current slowdown in the growth of the credit card market, commercial banks need to pay more attention to the quality of business rather than the quantity.
Take multiple measures to standardize the collection methods of credit card arrears
2024 is the "Year of Consumption Promotion". As we all know, consumption is an important engine for smoothing the domestic cycle and expanding domestic demand. The basis of consumption is income, and in today's financial and credit society, the growth of consumption depends not only on current income, but also on future income. In the context of promoting consumption, multiple measures to standardize the collection of credit card arrears and create a clear financial consumption environment have become urgent problems for major financial institutions and regulatory authorities.
First of all, financial institutions should prudently carry out personal credit card credit business and strengthen banks' prior review obligations. Some experts believe that banks should do a good job before signing a contract, comprehensively and objectively assess the borrower's borrowing purpose, repayment ability and willingness to repay, etc., and recommend suitable loan products to borrowers who meet the borrowing conditions, so as to avoid non-performing loans at the root and reduce the need for collection.
Second, financial institutions should fulfill their social responsibilities, strengthen financial consumer education, and guide credit card users to borrow rationally and plan for repayment. At the same time, before signing the credit card contract or installment repayment service agreement, the cardholder should carefully and carefully read the terms of the contract or service agreement to ensure that he understands the meaning of the key information related to collection, such as the term, interest rate, repayment arrangement, possible measures to be taken after overdue, and liability for breach of contract, and may request the financial institution to explain if necessary.
Third, financial institutions should fulfill the main responsibility of collecting in accordance with laws and regulations, establish an assessment mechanism for entrusted third-party collection agencies, strengthen supervision and inspection, and promptly identify, discover and deal with all kinds of abnormal situations and risks. At the same time, the regulatory authorities should raise the threshold for approval of collection companies, carry out standardized, institutionalized and standardized operations, widely publicize the illegal and criminal judgments of violent collection, and improve the legal awareness of collection personnel.
Fourth, establish a long-term complaint feedback mechanism and broaden the channels for consumer rights protection. The relevant lawyer believes that consumers should do a good job of collecting and retaining evidence of "violent collection", report and complain to the relevant regulatory authorities, and seek help from the police if the collection is suspected of violating the law.
As the financial industry moves from the pursuit of scale development to the pursuit of high-quality development, the concept of "financial health" has become an industry consensus. Under the market demand that financial services have advanced from "whether they are available" to "whether they are good or not", how to standardize the operation of credit card business, promote the high-quality development of credit card business, and effectively protect the rights and interests of financial consumers is an important issue facing every bank.
Written by: Aoyi News reporter Guan Yuhui