Third-party payment agency ** Status quo: lose money to do channel

There are also policy factors that restrict business development. At present, the regulatory requirements for third-party payment agency funds can only be “supermarket” and cannot be “guide shopping”.

On the one hand, it is a huge market prospect. On the other hand, it is the reality of a small amount of business and losing money. It is precisely this dilemma that is placed in front of the third-party payment companies that have already obtained fund sales licenses.

With the banking channel still occupying a share of nearly 60%, a third-party payment agency with a transaction volume of RMB 2 trillion has entered the sales cycle of the fund. Both the fund industry and the third-party payment industry have high hopes for this. However, the fund payment market that is regarded as the new blue ocean is currently only the “glacier corner.” However, Southern reporters recently visited a number of licensed companies and found that many third-party payment agencies claim to be able to support the expansion of channels at a loss.

However, how much return after the investment, the third-party payment agencies are currently uncertain. There are also policy factors that restrict the growth of their agency funds. The regulations stipulate that third-party payments cannot involve the sales of funds, and the agency funds can only be “supermarkets” and cannot be “guide shopping”, and even if they have Alipay. A large number of existing customers cannot be directly used.

The current size of real fund direct sales under the big vision is only 150 billion yuan. The China Securities Regulatory Commission has now approved seven payment agencies to be qualified for fund sales and payment business, namely, remittance data, Tonglianpay, China Unicom, Yibao, Alipay, and Cai. Pay pass, quick money. All the above-mentioned person in charge of the organization mentioned the fund sales and payment business to the Southern Reporter without exception, and this area was described as having a strategically important height.

Remittance to the world president Zhou Hao once said that at present, the larger payment companies handle 100 billion yuan in payments each year, and the fund industry provides a market of 3 trillion yuan a year. Within the next few years, it is expected to replace the aviation industry and become the largest industry in the third-party payment market.

If you push the fund industry, there is more room for the future. As of the end of last year, residents’ financial assets totaled 49.5 trillion, and funds accounted for only 3.6%. Compared with the rapid growth of bank wealth management products, insurance funds and trust products in the past few years, the growth of public funds has been very slow. "As the most standardized and transparent wealth management products, public funds will continue to be the main investment channels for residents in the future. This part has a lot of space." A person in charge of the financial department of a third-party organization that has already been involved in fund sales and payment told reporters. Since last year, the company has rapidly increased its users and trading volume, in addition to its rapid cooperation with fund companies. However, with regard to the data on the status of direct sales of funds, the information released by the companies is few.

Ms. Mu Haijie, Senior Vice President of Remittances, told reporters that as of now, the company’s Tian Tian Ying platform has accumulated more than 1.5 million users, supported 46 fund companies, 32 banks, more than 800 fund products, and covered 95% of the total. Market share.

At present, more than 30 fund companies have reached an agreement with Alipay to pay for access to funds, and the sales agencies of third-party funds such as Orient Wealth and Good Buy Fund have also stepped up their cooperation with Alipay. It is estimated that the number of fund companies accessing Alipay this year will reach 50, covering nearly 70% of domestic fund companies. The person in charge of the Quick Money Marketing Department told reporters that Quick Money has signed cooperation agreements with nearly 30 fund companies.

What is the volume of transactions through third-party payment platforms in existing fund sales? Organizations that have started the business generally only want to talk about the growth of the number of customers and cooperative fund companies, but they evade the issue of trading volume.

“Union Link” has announced that as of the end of April, the accumulated transaction volume of the fund's payment business reached more than 130 billion yuan, accounting for about 30% of the total online direct sales, and accounted for nearly 90% of the market share of third-party payment channels. If this is extrapolated, the direct sales of the fund through third-party payment platforms will be close to 150 billion.

“The fund direct payment is still in the stage of enclosure. The first stage is to establish a cooperative relationship with the fund company, followed by a third-party sales organization. At present, it is only the first stage.” A third-party payment person told reporters.

Even if it is the remittance of obtaining market opportunities, it is still in the stage of transition to the second stage. Mu Haijie said that the remittance of the world this year will focus on cooperation with third-party sales agencies.

The supervisory department's firewall can only be "supermarket" and cannot be "guide shopping"

"We do not think that the fund sales payment will present an explosive growth. Before entering this market, the third-party payment agencies are expecting too much optimism. On the other hand, we have not expected the regulators to issue so many fund payment licenses. "A vice president of a third-party payment agency, who declined to be named, told reporters.

There are two main paths for cooperation between third-party payments and funds. One is the direct connection of the fund company’s direct sales interface, which provides a one-stop payment service for the fund company’s direct sales platform, and the other is the connection with a third-party sales organization.

According to sources in the payment industry, the third-party payment agencies need to report to the regulatory authorities for interface with the fund company, and they are connected home-by-home. This also limits the speed of third-party payment agencies to fund companies. Remittance to the world is also outspoken about the current competitive landscape. “We have the opportunity to enter the market and currently cover the vast majority of fund companies.”

However, third-party payment agencies believe that another policy limitation that curbs the rapid expansion of third-party payments is the sales and payment firewall. “According to the requirements of the regulatory authorities, third-party payment agencies cannot intervene in the sales cycle of funds. This means that fund companies that do stock customers that value third-party payment agencies cannot be directly used.” The third-party payment agency mentioned above According to the reporter, the fund company's willingness to cooperate with third-party payment agencies that have account resources on hand is largely a potential customer base, but the regulatory authorities have strict requirements. "The third-party payment platform cannot recommend the product to end-users when it recommends products to end-users, that is, it can only be a 'supermarket' and cannot be a 'shopping guide'."

A third-party payment agency official told reporters that for the remittance, communication, and quick money that were previously focused on the industry payment solution, the policy of selling firewalls did not affect their expertise --- creating a fund industry payment solution, but with an account. Known Alipay and Tenpay General need to find another partner in the sales process. “We now only pay Alipay users access to the basic knowledge of fund management. Even if there is information on fund evaluation, it will be provided through other institutions that have fund financial advisory qualifications.” The responsible person of Alipay told reporters.

The person in charge of the e-commerce department of a top-five fund company also expressed similar views to reporters. “We can't treat seven payment companies completely and treat them as the biggest chip or customer base of the fund company. At present, we also look forward to Through other means to mobilize the client resources of the partners.” The person told reporters that for the fund company, it is still more sales channels.

Concern among partners about how small the cake might be. The third-party organization is too weak for the other dilemma of third-party payment agencies in the fund payment field.

The marketing director of a fund company in South China calculated an account with the reporter: “The sale of funds is a process of taking a large amount of funds. The gross profit of a single investment is very low. If the commission is 1% per annum, it is for the flatland. For start-up third-party sales companies, at least two billion to three billion yuan a year are needed for a year. Two or three million yuan of income can reach the critical point of profit and loss. I am afraid that it will take three to five years to invest. period."

The director of the cooperation department of a third-party payment institution financial institution also admits to the reporter that if the third-party payment institutions are divided into fund subscription/subscription fees, then even the original 0.6% of the space is rarely given to the sales organization. The deputy general manager of a third-party sales organization also admits to reporters that access to third-party payment agencies is tantamount to thinning the already small cakes in the distribution of existing fund sales interests. This is for third-party companies that have just started. In terms of sales organizations, it is almost "raising a rock and hitting one's own feet." "Third-party sales agencies now receive a 0.6% upfront fee from the fund company, plus a 30% to 50% of the 1.5% management fee, and if the customer redeems, the third party can obtain the full redemption rate (usually 0.5. If the third-party payment is to cooperate with us, then it may be only the first-half cost. However, the third-party payment institution has another opinion on this issue, and 0.6% of the fee-paying organizations should divide 0.5%. After all, We provide a platform for system and fund settlement. We may even share customers with them. As for other expenses, they should be sold to the sales organization.

However, in terms of customer sharing, third-party sales and payment agencies all expressed reservations to reporters. “If our customers let third-party payment agencies take away, then we would be tempted to rush into the room.” In this issue, it is still in a weak position. The third-party sales agencies obviously have a lot of concerns.

Currently, third-party sales agencies and third-party payment agencies have not reached a consensus on the division of cakes. "The reason is because the cake is too small. No matter how the cut, people have to bear the risk of loss." A third-party payment person told reporters that in the agency's trading volume, the fund sales accounted for a small proportion, this person also Frankly, this business is still not being vigorously developed. “A lot of peers have just painted a big pie. There must be a breakthrough in this business. First, the sales channels must be opened, and the payment agencies may be involved.” The person bluntly said.

Jiang Saichun, general manager of Desheng Fund Research Center, also stated that the biggest problem with third-party sales is that the fee for public fund sales is too low, and the cost of developing a large number of small and medium-sized customers is too high.

Do or not?

Paying enterprises to support bravely: Losing money to support the channel “The road is rough but the future is bright.” When it comes to the prospects for fund sales, most people in the payment industry believe that the outlook is still promising. "The reason is that there is a huge stock, and customer demand will suddenly erupt with the increasingly electronic payments. The wealth management industry is no exception." Tenpay relevant sources told reporters.

Remittances also told reporters that they are also making plans for not making profits for three years in the channel of supporting fund companies. Mu Haijie told reporters that the payment company hopes to maximize the cake by supporting the development of third-party sales organizations. Tian Tian Ying launched the “Super Cash Po” innovative product with the advantages of fund real-time conversion function and lazy-type automatic fixed-rate financing function, meeting the double requirements of fund investors on liquidity and earnings, and obtaining Hua An and Peng Hua. , Long letter and other large fund companies support.

Good Buy Fund CEO Yang Wenbin (microblogging) also believes that the next two to three years will appear at least 50 to 100 fund third-party sales company, its cod effect will drive the entire industry to pay more attention to the investor's real interests and appeals. In the view of the deputy general manager of a joint venture fund company in Shanghai, in the past few years, third-party sales and payments should only play a supplementary role in fund sales channels, which is not a threat to banks. However, in the long run, the fund's online sales will gradually be accepted by the market. Forming a unified online settlement platform will also be a general trend. Banks are not willing to lag behind the trend. The key is to see how the participating parties can achieve a win-win solution together. Make the cake bigger.