Internet Business Thinking

Chapter 3 Internet finance is not in the future, but in the present! (3)
"Who are you? You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with."

When Li Song was working on Zhenai.com, he had two consultants.One is Guan Mingsheng, who was the general manager of the China region of the former General Electric Medical Systems Business Unit. He used to be the president and chief operating officer of Alibaba, responsible for daily management.Another consultant is Owen Zhong, the former Asia-Pacific chairman of Campbell Soup.Li Song said that he has learned a lot of knowledge and experience in management and marketing from them.

"Guan Mingsheng taught me a lot of management knowledge. He is the person I know who understands management best. When Alibaba was founded, because the founder did not understand management, although it raised a lot of money, it burned too much during the Internet bubble. Quick. When the money on Alibaba’s books was about to burn out in a few months, the investors invited Guan Mingsheng to be the president and chief operating officer. The value system has been moved over, and management has laid the foundation for Alibaba to grow bigger and stronger. Today, Zhenai.com’s management framework also has some shadows of General Electric because of Mr. Guan’s relationship.” Li Song said.

From Mr. Owenzhong, Li Song understood the importance of brand positioning.When Li Song didn't even know what positioning was, Mr. Ou gave him a book called "Positioning".It is precisely because Mr. Ou made Li Song realize the importance of the brand that Zhenai.com determined the brand positioning of the dating website, so that when users see Zhenai.com, they immediately think of words such as "blind date" and "telephone matchmaker".This differentiates Zhenai.com from its competitors.

(Section V) Too complicated?Then just do one thing: get your business on the Internet
Internet finance is an emerging financial model based on Internet tools such as payment, cloud computing, social networking, and search engines. It mainly includes third-party payment platform models, P2P network microfinance models, and financial service platform models based on big data. , crowdfunding model, online insurance model, online sales of financial wealth management products and other models.

With the development of the Internet and big data, the rise of Internet financial companies has impacted many areas of the traditional financial industry and expanded to the core areas of the financial industry.

Internet finance is an emerging financial model based on Internet tools such as payment, cloud computing, social networking, and search engines. It mainly includes third-party payment platform models, P2P network microfinance models, and financial service platform models based on big data. , crowdfunding model, online insurance model, online sales model of financial wealth management products, etc.

Due to the advantages of open resources, intensive cost, market-oriented selection, independent channels, and value-based user behavior, Internet finance has brought a huge impact on traditional banking business.At the same time, Internet finance has also brought great opportunities and challenges to traditional financial institutions and emerging financial institutions.

NO1. Third-party payment platform model

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Model overview: Third-party payment companies refer to non-financial institutions that provide online payment, pre-acceptance of prepaid card issuance, bank card acquiring, and other payment services as an intermediary between payees and payers.

Core logic: The payment function has dual genes of finance and information, and it is likely to become the core of the entire Internet financial problem.

Main opportunity: The current third-party payment platform mainly performs payment functions. In the future, it may conduct wealth management services based on accumulated funds, and conduct credit analysis and marketing analysis based on user consumption data.Therefore, the third-party payment platform will become the core platform to subvert the traditional financial industry in the future.

Challenges: In the field of mobile payment, due to the intervention of operators, the traditional payment form that only needs to be settled with the bank to pay has ceased to exist.Third-party payment must establish close ties with operators and equipment suppliers, so that it is possible to grasp the development of technology, integrate payment resources, and gain a first-mover advantage.To achieve this, the financial strength, technical foundation, and public relations strength of third-party payment companies are all indispensable.

Representative companies: Internet payment companies represented by Alipay, YeePay, Lakala, and Tenpay, and financial payment companies represented by Kuaiqian and Huifu.

Comments: The future development of third-party payment will show diversification and polarization.Some high-quality third-party payment companies will start from certain specific subdivided fields to seize more territory and space, and their popularity will increase, and their brands will become more and more familiar; while some have no obvious characteristics and strategic positioning. Unclear third-party payment companies may become less and less familiar in terms of scale and brand, and eventually decline.

NO2. P2P network microfinance model
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Model overview: Through the P2P network financing platform, the borrower directly publishes the loan information. After the lender understands the identity information and credit information of the other party, he can directly sign a loan contract with the borrower, provide a small loan, and know the borrower's repayment in time. payment progress and return on investment.

Core logic: The essence of the so-called P2P model is actually an Internet platform, through which one end of the network is connected to people with small loan needs, and the other end is connected to people with financial needs.Divide it into two halves, it is a wealth management platform plus a small loan platform.

Key opportunity: Small and micro lending has traditionally been shunned by traditional banks due to its high cost.But in the Internet age, all this will change fundamentally.Effective technical means and innovative service methods provide the possibility to efficiently meet the financial needs of huge ordinary individuals.These ordinary individuals can often contribute higher yields.Therefore, for financial institutions, the wealth created by the clusters of these ordinary individuals will be a huge treasure, and the Internet and data are the key "treasure map".

Facing challenges: At present, P2P is still in a state of "three noes" with no access threshold, industry standards, and competent authorities. The fundamental reason is that my country does not have a complete personal credit rating mechanism. It is difficult for P2P companies to find a more reliable personal credit score, so they have to "emphasize" their own business model, not only to provide services like foreign P2P companies, but also to obtain customers through online and offline means. Credit rating, in fact, is a matter of multiple links in the industrial chain, which is very unfavorable to enterprises.

Representative companies: Prosper and Lending Club P2P companies in the United States, Renrendai, Paipaidai, Hongling Venture Capital, etc. in China.

Comments: Typical foreign P2P companies, such as Prosper and Lending Club P2P companies in the United States, do not have a guarantee function. They are pure platforms that do not intervene in transactions, and the borrower and the lender trade directly.In order to attract users, some P2Ps in China transfer loans to platform accounts first, which is still in a blank state in terms of supervision and does not comply with the regulations, and there is a very high risk of running away with money.In addition, the domestic credit system is not perfect, and it is very difficult to rely solely on online evaluation.If my country's financial infrastructure in terms of personal credit rating is more complete, then P2P will present a situation in which a hundred flowers bloom.

NO3. Crowdfunding financing model
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Model overview: The so-called crowdfunding platform refers to a platform where creative people raise small funds or other support from the public, and then feed back the results of creative implementation to investors.The website provides a platform for netizens to initiate fundraising ideas, sort out investor information, and disclose the results of creative implementation, so that sharing with fundraisers becomes the main profit model.

Core logic: Raising funds for new projects or starting a business through the masses on the Internet.

Main opportunities: Crowdfunding financing mode is a new type of financing method. Financing parties release their own ideas, projects or company information through crowdfunding financing platforms. Internet users vote with money according to their own judgments. Only a small amount of money is needed. Can become a shareholder of a business.For idea proposers or entrepreneurs, this financing method makes their start-up costs lower, that is to say, crowdfunding can better promote innovation and entrepreneurship.

Facing challenges: At present, the relevant laws of our country are still in conflict with the way of crowdfunding financing.Therefore, the crowdfunding model faces great legal obstacles in our country. They can only find opportunities in the cracks, gradually evolve, and eventually become a platform for product advertising or new product trials.The rules of the crowdfunding model are very strict. If it is a public offering, the number of shareholders cannot exceed 50, and it is not allowed to raise funds from non-specific groups of people, and it is not allowed to promise returns.If it is a private equity fund, at least a starting point of more than 100 million is required.

Representative companies: The earliest and most well-known crowdfunding platform abroad is Kickstarter, and the well-known domestic crowdfunding platforms are named time, Zhongchou.com, Taomeng.com, etc.

Comments: The development of crowdfunding is considered to have three stages: the first stage can be completed by individuals, there is no need to propose products with multiple technical thresholds, and the cost of supporters is relatively low. Therefore, crowdfunding is easier at the beginning Obtain support; the second stage is a product with a slightly higher technical threshold; the third stage is a product with a higher technical threshold that even requires small companies or multi-party cooperation to realize.At present, my country's crowdfunding is basically in the first stage.

NO4. Virtual electronic currency model
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Model overview: Virtual currency is a kind of network virtual currency generated by computer calculations or issued and managed by the network community. It is usually used to purchase some virtual items on the corresponding network, such as clothes, hats, and equipment in online games. Wait.Of course, virtual currencies like Bitcoin can also be used to buy real-life items as long as someone accepts them.

Core logic: Although electronic currency is due to the rise of e-commerce, future electronic currency will gradually replace some of the functions of existing sovereign currency, because electronic currency has a high degree of convenience, and the main reason for the creation of currency is to facilitate people's lives .

Key opportunity: Third-party companies launch prepaid cards, virtual currencies like Q coins to stimulate consumption, rather than develop into something that can be exchanged for money.In daily life, when we consume physical currency, we have a very strong feeling of spending money, but when we consume virtual currency, it feels similar to spending with a credit card—it does not feel that we are spending money. Therefore, issuing virtual currency can stimulate consumption.

Facing challenges: Some virtual currency issuance is too large, which causes the currency to expand in the field where it flows, and even causes the company to go bankrupt in severe cases.For example, Bitcoin was only used by online merchants in the early days, but later offline physical merchants also began to accept it, and there was a conversion ratio.However, since virtual currencies may have an impact on the existing monetary system, regulation will be strict. In December 2013, the People's Bank of China declared Bitcoin an "illegal currency" in China and no physical transactions were allowed.

Representative companies: foreign bitcoin, Amazon currency, Facebook currency, domestic Q currency, etc.

Comments: Different from Bitcoin, Tencent’s Q coins, Amazon coins, etc. are all virtual currencies that operate in a specific closed environment. They cannot be taken to the market to buy other commodities, nor can they be exchanged for cash. They will not affect the real economy. At the same time, they can also become real income for Tencent and Amazon.Although virtual currencies like Bitcoin have the potential to replace sovereign currencies, this possibility is unlikely in the foreseeable future.

Schematic diagram of the operation mode of Alipay, a representative enterprise of third-party payment

NO5. Financial service platform model based on big data
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Model overview: This model is to build financial products like "Qunar.com" and use a vertical search engine to connect individuals with borrowing needs with small and medium-sized banks and small lending institutions with lending needs on one platform , and then earn income through advertising fees or transaction commissions.

Core logic: Various banks and small loan companies conduct vertical searches on this platform and bring them customers.

Main opportunity: There are not too many policy risks in this model, mainly because the capital flow does not pass through the intermediary platform.To put it simply, these financial vertical searches are actually a market outsourcing channel for banks to bring customers, and they mainly earn market fees from banks and small loan companies.

Facing challenges: Many practitioners who provide new financial services on the Internet and mobile Internet are from the Internet industry and do not have a deep understanding of finance. Therefore, what they do is still at the superficial level of user experience and has not touched the deeper level of finance face content.In the future, the needs of customers will become more and more specialized. How these companies can grasp these deeper needs requires further efforts.

Representative companies: Bankrate (Bankrate) abroad, Rong360, Haodai.com, financial management, etc. in China.

Comments: my country's financial service industry is still underdeveloped, and lending business, wealth management business, etc. are very backward. In view of the current shortage of financial services, some companies have cut out a subdivided field from the financial business process, carried out intensive cultivation, and slowly obtained It has been recognized by more and more customers.

P2P stands for enterprise pat loan operation flow chart
NO6.P2B mode
The first website of the P2B model is Fundind Circle. This model is to guide individuals to provide loans to small enterprises. It does not concentrate funds, it only serves as an intermediary, and a professional team will rate these financing small and micro enterprises. The rating is direct Corresponding to its borrowing rate on the platform, the borrowing rate of low-rated companies is high, and the rate of high-rated companies is lower.There are four levels in total, each corresponding to a personal loan interest rate, and the transaction is realized through bidding.

NO7. Internet bank mode (Internet bank or E-bank)

With the help of modern digital communication, Internet, mobile communication and Internet of Things technology, through cloud computing, big data and other methods, online realization provides customers with deposits, loans, payments, settlements, remittances, electronic tickets, electronic credit, account management, Currency swap, P2P finance, investment and wealth management, financial information and other all-round seamless, fast, safe and efficient Internet financial service institutions.The convenience and efficiency of Internet banking will bring great challenges to traditional banks.

NO8. Internet insurance model

It mainly refers to the insurance of virtual property on the Internet. There is no offline channel. It is an insurance service platform serving the Internet and related industries. For example, Zhongan Online only sells freight insurance, and insurance for virtual items will be online.

NO9. Internet financial portal model

It mainly sells financial products on the Internet platform.On platforms such as Taobao wealth management and insurance, customers can inquire, understand and purchase various wealth management and insurance products through the Internet.Compared with the original offline purchase, online financial management and insurance are more convenient and transparent, and the threshold is relatively lower, and different product combinations can be provided in a timely manner according to the individual needs of customers.

NO10. Cost-saving program mode

This mode is mainly to help users design cost-saving solutions.BillShrink, for example, offers services in six categories: credit cards, cell phones, telecommunications, gasoline, deposits, and business credit cards.This model may not be applicable in China, but its ideas are worth learning. It is not just for saving money, but considers the real needs of users by putting themselves in their shoes.

(End of this chapter)