Today, the journey of Internet finance is far from over.
Editor’s note: This article comes from WeChat public account “ Suning Wealth Information “(ID: SuningWealthInsights), author Du Juan.
Pictures from OneImage.com
“Xi Erqi” refers to the fifth ring road in northwest Beijing, an old-fashioned gathering place for Internet companies. It has always been known for its busy office buildings, crowded subways standing by the shoulders, construction-like surroundings and low-key code farmers. The Beijing headquarters of Internet giants such as Baidu, Tencent, Didi, Netease, and Sina are all located here.
Compared to this, “Wangjing” outside the Northeast Fourth Ring Road is a younger Internet CBD, artistic skyscrapers, entrances to Beijing adjacent to airports, trendy shopping malls, and brilliant venture capitalists. Is its business card. Although there are also large Internet companies such as Qihoo 360 and Meituan, a large number of Internet entrepreneurs have given Wangjing more vitality.
Although the two have completely different development tunes, they adhere to the same Internet core and have witnessed the ups and downs of the industry. From the decline of the portal site to the rapid rise of e-commerce and social networking, from the tragic ending of the “Thousands of Missions” to the rapid advancement of the mobile Internet, the latest wave is the changes in the Internet finance industry.
In this wave of changes, “Xi Erqi” and “Wangjing” have participated in different attitudes and recorded the fantasy journey of the industry for more than ten years from different perspectives.
Given the many fields of Internet finance, let’s start with two areas where the general public is in contact.
The feast of third-party payments, winners take all
Third-party payment is the first financial service for an Internet company to get electrocuted. It originated from the payment needs of e-commerce and online games. The birth of Alipay in Hangzhou in 2004 opened the door to reverie for Internet companies.
The “Xi Erqi” far away in Beijing has become a pioneer of this trend with its keen sense of innovation. Since 2005, the first batch of payment platforms such as Lacala, Zihexin, etc. have been exhibiting here, and then head-end agencies such as Baidu and Sina have entered the game.Third-party payment has become a new fashion in the “Xi Erqi” Internet circle, providing an ideal entrance for financial platforms to cut into financial services, and has triggered countless financial imaginations.
At that time, “Wangjing”, which was 20 kilometers away, was ushering in a boom in the construction of commercial real estate. Real estate groups such as Sino-Ocean Land and SOHO China invested heavily in embedding landmarks in Wangjing. Around 2010, many Internet startups were attracted by lower rents and more trendy office environments, including Qian Fanghaojin and other start-up third-party payment platforms.
By 2011, as the central bank begins to issue third-party payment licenses and popular applications of smartphones, the third-party payment industry has entered an explosive period, and payment institutions have begun to rapidly promote online and offline layouts. Internet giants are based on their own scenarios and startups are targeting Small and medium businesses. The “Xi Erqi” and “Wangjing” office buildings have become lively inside and outside, and around the food and beverage street, and various types of activities to open payment and send red envelopes have blossomed.
Subsequently, the head effect of the Internet appeared in the field of third-party payment. C-end payment was preempted by the two major platforms of Alipay and Tenpay. Big groups such as Baidu and Sina regarded payment as a channel for customer acquisition, and the Buddha department was profitable. Small and medium-sized payment platforms can only show their magical powers, and issue B-side acquisitions, Internet financial payment channels, and other subdivisions. There are also tail-end platforms that take risks, gambling, money laundering, illegal cross-border transfers, and other black products. At this time, although the streets of “Xi Erqi” and “Wangjing” no longer have a hustle and bustle, the billions of transactions are flowing behind the glass curtain wall of the office building every day.
The prosperous days are not long. In 2016, the rectification activities on issues such as third-party payment platform reserve funds, disconnected direct connections, and unlicensed operations began, and the “laying and earning” days of payment platforms are coming to an end. The governance of the Internet finance industry has cut off important sources of revenue for small and medium-sized platforms, and the elimination of illegal platforms such as overseas gambling has also wiped out the tail-violating platforms.
The loss of profit channels coupled with the sky-high ticket from illegal operating models has made small and medium-sized payment platforms worry for a while. The Securities Daily reported that the transaction price of a third-party payment for a full license fell from 800 million to 1 billion yuan in March 2018 to 300 million to 400 million yuan in November 2018. Listed platforms such as Zihexin had no choice but to delist, and more As the platform failed to pass the renewal review, the license was eventually cancelled.
In this round of fluctuations, both “Xi Erqi” and “Wangjing” have been involved in the tide, and they have gone through the process from prosperity to depression in the industry. Fortunately, “Xi Erqi” has ran out of the listing platform with its first-mover advantage. Although the profit channels have narrowed, merchants and word of mouth have accumulated considerable. Coupled with the powerful strength of Internet giants such as Baidu and Sina, the payment business is still steadily improving. And the small and medium-sized payment entrepreneurship platform gathered in “Wangjing”, in the context of the established industry structure, still needs to explore the breakthrough direction and work hard for continued profit.
The carnival on the P2P platform came to an end