Recently, with the explosion of Zhou Hongyi, the news about 360 lending and earning 14 billion in 3 years has also been dug up by netizens, which has attracted attention and caused huge controversy. Some people say that China's technology companies are collectively turning to online lending.
According to public information, Qifu Technology, as the online loan platform of 360, has become the most profitable company under Zhou Hongyi, Qifu Technology will collect 16.3 billion yuan in 2023 and earn 4.28 billion yuan, while Zhou Hongyi's main business, 360 Group, has lost 500 million yuan. The business is different, and Zhou Hongyi has also continued to invest in Qifu Technology, and has announced that he will repurchase a total of $350 million of shares this year. Seeing this, netizens have fried the pot, and 360, which started with software business, is gradually becoming an online loan company, which is emerging in an endless stream among domestic technology companies, which makes people really laugh.
In the current complex economic environment, it seems that the reversal of online loans is also a helpless move by technology companies, taking 360 as an example, compared with Zhou Hongyi's other businesses, Qifu Technology's ability to make money is really much stronger.
The predecessor of Qifu Technology is 360 Finance, in order to dilute the impact of "finance" and "online loans", the company has undergone two name changes and changed its surname, and is now called Qifu Technology.
What continues to provide profits for Zhou Hongyi is a large number of financial institutions and borrowers. According to the data, in the past year, as many as 157 financial institutions have cooperated with Qifu Technology, facilitating a total of 30.4 million successful loans, with a total loan matching and initiation scale of more than 470 billion yuan, and a balance of outstanding loans of more than 186.5 billion yuan. In addition, the company has also played the online loan business with a surprisingly high customer stickiness, with a refinancing rate of 91.6%, which means that more than ninety percent of people will use the loan service of Qifu Technology once and then use it again, and the average contract term of each person is more than 11 months.
As we all know, borrowing money on an online loan platform, the interest rate is much higher than that of the bank, even if the contract interest is not high at the beginning, but through various terms and conditions, as long as the conditions are triggered, the interest will rise immediately, and the maximum annualized rate can reach 24%, so the question is, why can Qifu Technology still attract so many customers with such a high interest? According to the page of an app, as long as you are between the ages of 18 and 55 and provide your ID card and bank card, you can apply for money in as little as 5 minutes.
In addition to 360, vigorously developing the online loan business has become the common choice of almost all technology companies, and it seems that Huawei is the only seedling left without being contaminated with the loan business.
The more developed the Internet, the more convenient online loans will be, and all kinds of loan advertisements are like cowhide plasters, which cannot be blocked no matter how they are blocked. There are various forms and tricks, such as "fast loans, low interest, no collateral, and long cycles" are all basic, and the core idea is the same: no matter how bad your life is at the moment, as long as you take out online loans, all problems can be solved.
There are many reasons behind the reversal of technology companies to online loans, first of all, the online loan business is too profitable.
Not much to say about the example of 360, since ancient times, loans have been a good business. In ancient feudal society, the work of landlords was basically two things, collecting rent and lending. How did Huang Shiren exploit the peasants, occupying the land as a means of production, while the peasants relied on the sky for food. When the harvest is good, the land rent can be handed over, but in the year when the harvest is not good, the land rent cannot be paid, so you can only borrow money from the landlord.
Some people may want to say that the collection of land rent is the age of Chen sesame rotten grain, but after so many years, the essence of some things has not actually changed. For example, big data is now smarter than before, and it can accurately push loan advertisements to target customers, and definitely not to the rich.
The reason why online loans have become fragrant and sweet is also related to our country's credit system. The foundation of domestic banks is this credit system, the bank's business is to earn interest rate differentials by absorbing deposits and issuing loans, which people can become target customers, a check on the credit will know, regardless of the amount, as long as you ask the bank to borrow money, check the credit is a must do, married, even the spouse's credit must be checked. But if there is an overdue record on the credit report, or other flaws, it is basically equivalent to being on the bank's blacklist, and the bank's cheap credit funds will close the door to you.
In the stage of economic prosperity, there is no problem with the credit system, the bank's money is never worried about not being able to borrow, so many customers, we must try to choose the best of the best, but once the economy enters a period of steady development, the problem of the credit system will be exposed. There are more and more people who have problems with credit information, many people because of some emergencies, an inappropriate credit defect, at this time, what will the bank do, sorry, your record is not good, I can't do your business.
What should these people do, they can only turn to the online loan platform with a lower threshold, therefore, there is a very contradictory phenomenon now, the bank's money interest rate is low, but there are not many qualified customers, the bank account manager is crazy to call, just to lend the money, on the other hand, the online loan platform has a high interest rate, but it has produced a group of highly sticky senior customers.
Technology companies are turning to online lending, and 360 is not the only one, and there are various institutional and economic reasons behind this. Online lending is surging, but considering financial security, there are a series of problems behind it, which are gradually attracting attention, such as collection and non-performing rates.
In recent years, the state has strengthened supervision and control over financial institutions in all aspects, and the financial work conference and the central economic work conference held last year have all released a strong signal that finance has a bearing on the lifeline of the country's economy, and it does not matter whether it is okay or not.
Outside the financial system, will the business of online lending technology companies become a blind spot in supervision, we have to put a big question mark on this, and also call on the state to start supervision and management, for technology giants, in the current market environment, making money is important, but how to make money safely, is the most important.