Danger and machine of third party payment

Wen/Zhang Shule

Originally contained in "The Age of Innovation" 2013 11

According to the National Internet Center data show that by the end of 2012, China's internet users have exceeded 500 million, online shopping transactions of more than 500 billion, network platform gradually become the main position of traditional enterprises.

However, the already plump third party payments are unwilling to be a "middleman", they are already starting to attack more areas. "Platform" for third-party payments, not only the demand for profit, but also the instinct to survive.

The strangulation war traditional finance is invading

August 27, China's largest online payment company Alipay official Weibo released a message: "For some well-known reasons, Alipay will stop all offline POS business." We will properly deal with the original cooperative merchant and will not affect the normal business of the merchant. We apologize for the inconvenience caused to users and partners. But in the quest to pay for innovation, we will never stop. ”

On the face of it, this is the one retreat that has the online payment of the absolute advantage of paying the treasure to pay for the search under the line. But the industry's interpretation of its true purpose is "demonstrations".

In early July this year, the central bank issued a "bank card receipts management approach" to the market release of open bank card clearing market signal: the original in the draft of the 29th-"involving all settlement payments must be approved by the central Bank of the legitimate clearing house to carry out" was taken away. However, shortly after this, UnionPay issued an internal regulation to prepare the online and offline Third-party payment agencies, requiring all member banks to complete the transfer of non-financial institutions under-line UnionPay card trading business by the end of this year, and to transfer UnionPay to the first half of 2014, Non-financial institutions to achieve UnionPay card transactions full access to UnionPay.

Alipay for the sake of self-preservation, chose to "retreat" tactics and UnionPay played a non-violent non-cooperation movement.

The bigger crisis is the impact of traditional finance on third-party payments, especially in the mobile-payment market where third-party payments have not yet been fought.

According to media reports, a bank has just launched an app phone client, in addition to the use of their own bank cards for business processing, through the app platform, the bank cards of major banks can directly pay, this is the first bank launched by the class payment platform of mobile clients.

It is understood that the payment function of the software currently covers water, electricity, gas, refueling card, cell phone recharge, cable TV, communication fees, such as a total of 8 categories, about 300 items required for daily payment. In this field, it is the traditional payment platform, such as Alipay, Tenpay and other Third-party payment agencies have entered the market early.

But for the third party payment platform, although already entered, but is not always as rich as the bank, such as the introduction of such a payment platform of the bank, its payment type is very full, at present the basic has been realized and the major provinces related platforms and operators directly docking, and the promotion period does not charge fees.

This makes Third-party payments in the direction of life-oriented mobile payment in the field of the advantages of a sudden reduction in a lot. and the traditional financial industry, also began to really pay attention to the network payment market, in the past because the market let the third party to pay the brutal growth of the past.

To be or not to be, is now a problem for third party payers, especially the three-stream Third-party payment platforms that are struggling to survive.

The opportunity of Reverse osmosis third party payment

July 5, the financial state 10 clearly proposed that the expansion of private capital into the financial sector, the private capital to initiate the establishment of private banks at risk, financial leasing companies and consumer finance companies and other financial institutions.

September 27, Xiaoling, deputy director of the National People's Congress, deputy governor of the former central bank, said at the 2013 China Financial Innovation Forum, the third party to pay the most basic set up a new type of bank. She pointed out that private capital to enter the banking industry alone under the cost of the bank is high, difficult, but based on the Internet bank can be a new type of bank, can be differentiated competition.

History gives third parties a choice, and third party payments at the crossroads face bite, even the first-line vendors such as Alipay and Tenpay.

"The environment has changed!" Mr. Xu, the industry insider, said: 10 years ago, China's online shopping is far less than today's prosperity, online transactions are only a fraction of the size of the line, so the traditional financial industry is not the case, and third-party payments to solve the problem of credit guarantee, in the solution to the bottleneck of the electricity dealers also achieved their own development. But the problem is that it's not going to work now just to continue with the credit guarantee program. The competition between Vue and third-party payment companies is terrible. ”

The competition was brutal to a company that just got an Internet payment licence earlier this year to transfer its 100% stake and offer only 40 million yuan.

Choose to enter the traditional financial sector, and play the role of third-party payment of flexible features become a must. A recent High-profile news is that the Chinese PICC recently to its micro-letter public number "PICC Insurance network Direct" for a comprehensive upgrade, and access to the third party to pay the fast money company's payment function, PICC in the micro-letter on the implementation of insurance transactions closed loop. "On the surface, the effect of doing so does not bring much order to the PICC, at least in the short term." But this represents such a meager and crisis-prone industry as insurance and third-party payments, and is partnering to find Blue Ocean. Said Mr Xu.

Similar explorations have been carried out by third-party payers in a number of ways. In addition to the previously hyped balance treasure and other third-party payments launched the financial services, Alipay and other 17 Third-party payment companies have access to Cross-border e-commerce foreign exchange Payment business pilot qualification, the relevant business has begun to quietly advance. And right now, is authorized by the formal access, compared to 2007 years when Alipay began in the absence of policy support in the context of cooperation with banks or with foreign third-party payment agencies, the currency exchange and payment process by its custodian bank, the curve to achieve cross-border payments "gray breakthrough" is not the same.

and vertical financial services are emerging. Yeepay paid CEO Tang said: "2005, when the network gaming industry in the Internet led to a thriving trend, yeepay pay attention to this opportunity to start the layout of digital entertainment industry, for game operators to provide payment services to meet the diverse needs of users to pay, from the beginning to enter the industry to pay." "This has become the key to Yeepay's ability to get into the front line, and it has become a new area for third-party payments to expand recently."

Especially for small micro-enterprises credit services. Alipay, remit to pay the world, fast money, Ali Finance, Fast Changtong and other third-party payment enterprises, have been involved in this field, through the cooperation with the traditional financial institutions such as banks, or set up a microfinance company on their own, is becoming a new strength to support the development of small micro-enterprises.

Third-party payment in the implementation of policy solution, the platform will be faster, its layout will not as in the past as the trembling on the thin ice.

The biggest enemy of internationalization is at the door

Third-party payments and the traditional financial sector of the offensive and defensive, in fact, can only be counted as "civil war." The enemies that really threaten their survival come from outside the gates.

According to media reports, July 16, 2012, the WTO on the two years ago the United States trade office to prosecute China UnionPay monopoly issued by the Panel report that China UnionPay did not form a market monopoly, but also asked China should allow foreign service providers to provide electronic payment services through cross-border means. China has not appealed the ruling, and according to WTO rules, if one side abandons the complaint, it means acceptance of the ruling, which means that China will be obliged to gradually open up the electronic payment service market, and other card organizations other than UnionPay will be allowed to issue renminbi payment cards within China. By then, UnionPay faces more than a domestic private challenge, such as Alipay, and will face competition with Visa, which is about 10 times times the size of its revenues.

This is the only point where it is difficult for UnionPay, and third party payments will be difficult. As there are too many third-party payments in the country, it is understood that, since the PBoC's May 2011 first-round third-party payment licences, 250 institutions have been issued to pay the business license, and from the public comments of central bank officials, the central bank will continue to issue. This has allowed the domestic internet to pay a very fierce price war in order to compete for a limited market, usually at a low rate of less than 5 per thousand. In the overseas market, for example, payment giant PayPal, the rate can reach 3%-4%. This results in spite of the domestic third-party payment market size of more than 10 trillion yuan, but even the first-tier Third-party payment giant's primitive accumulation is very limited.

"Third party payment companies look strong like cows, but just like goods, their capital strength and impact resistance, the whole industry packaged together, can not be compared with UnionPay." Insiders say: "Once you let go, don't mention the Hard-won cross-border e-commerce foreign exchange payment business will soon fall under the challenge of foreign rivals, even its current desire to expand the traditional financial business, will be fully contained." Because foreign capital is the first to beat, is not the size of the banks, but the flexible civil team. ”

The industry has described one of the most terrifying "doomsday scenarios": Third-party payers will therefore be confined to their own traditional advantage projects in internet payments and then kill each other without further development. Therefore, the third party payment must quickly realize the infiltration in the traditional financial field, and expand their business scope to achieve the platform, "only the establishment of base areas, not guerrilla, it is possible to counter foreign investment in the first round of strong shocks." It's a battle for survival, not a hobby. The person pointed out.