The core of finance is stability and stability.
Article | Xianxiao
Source | Hujin News Agency
Finance not only possesses strong hematopoietic capabilities, but also hides a strong "blood-sucking power", especially for those Internet companies that "emergency medical treatment."
Recently, Sogou released the unaudited financial report for the fourth quarter and full year of 2019. During the reporting period, Sogou's fourth quarter total revenue was US $ 301 million, an increase of 1% year-on-year; the net profit attributable to Sogou was US $ 35 million, an increase of 33% year-on-year. In the fourth quarter of 2019, total revenue was US $ 301 million, an increase of 1% year-on-year and a decrease of 4.41% month-on-month. Perhaps it was because after repeated trials and several strandings, the financial layout that was shrouded in doubt was embarrassing. In recent years, the financial business data repeatedly promoted by Sogou was not mentioned in the financial report.
However, official data shows that Sogou has nearly 500 million monthly active users. Faced with such a huge user scale, how to superimpose this part of economic factors and other services on the platform to quickly realize cash, financial products have become an important tool to promote the monetization of services. However, the core of finance is stability and stability.
On the whole, it takes a long time to build a financial business to establish a credit model and a capital flow model. Later, there will be a series of risk problems such as overdue and violent collection. Compared with Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu and other companies, Sogou has not found a correct way to open the flow of traffic on the way of financial layout.
Suspected for false disclosure of Yin-Yang contract
As a smart credit platform of Sogou, Sogou borrowing money is the product of Sogou ’s current cash loan business. In the Sogou input method app, users only need to click on the "My Wallet" section on the Sogou input method keyboard and they will jump To an interface called Sogou to borrow money. In addition to the traffic entrance of the input method, Sogou borrowed money also launched independent apps on the Apple and Android app stores. The maximum loan is 50,000 yuan, the loan period is 3-12 months, and the loan can be repaid on the same day.
The online operation of Sogou's borrowing money is destined to inactivate hundreds of millions of Sogou users.
A user named Zhou Yu (pseudonym) reported to Hujin News Agency that he had applied for a loan of 7,200 yuan on Sogou ’s loan, which was paid off in 9 installments, each of which required a repayment of the principal of 800 yuan. The interest rate is 10%.
However, when repaying Zhou Yu, he found that in addition to the principal, he actually had to repay RMB 124 per month. Based on this calculation, the actual annualization of the loan exceeded 35.95%, which was not within the 36% red line required by the regulation To 0.05%, nearly twice the 10% of the contract.
What makes Zhou Yu angry is that he originally calculated the repayment interest and his own affordability according to the officially advertised interest rate and the interest rate shown in the contract, but when he repaid it, there was so much, and he did not understand that the extra money arrived There is no explanation in the contract.
In fact, Zhou Yu's doubts about this loan mainly lie in: Why is the actual annualized rate of 35.9% higher than the contracted 10%?
If you look closely, it is not difficult to find that 10% of the contract is only the loan interest rate, which is the interest part. When Zhou Yu actually repays, 124 yuan is the comprehensive interest fee, that is, the borrower needs to apply to the institution, the lender, etc. All costs paid: interest, penalty interest, handling fee, guarantee fee, intermediary service fee, loan consulting service fee, credit reference fee, evaluation fee, insurance, quality assurance plan, etc. are all included.
Previously, some practitioners carried out publicity only in vague ways such as daily interest rates and monthly interest rates. The disclosed interest rates were inconsistent with the actual borrowing costs, causing some financial consumers to make wrong judgments and participate in transactions. To this end, the regulatory authorities made it clear that Internet online loan products should strictly disclose the comprehensive annualized cost. The comprehensive annualized cost required by financial consumers should be clearly displayed in product display, advertising, and publicity channels, and the borrower should be clear Risk warning. Otherwise, it will be handled in accordance with relevant regulations.
"Yin and Yang contract is too deep, thinking that the interest rate is 10% very low, and it is still a big platform. The result is so deep. If the interest rate is clearly stated, I will not apply if I see such high interest rates." After the difference in interest, Zhou Yu said helplessly.
Zhou Yu's experience is not accidental, nor is it a case.
In the complaint, many users such as Mr. Xu and Zhou Yu encountered the same confusion, because after repayment, they found that the actual annualization and the disclosure gap were large. These users used "false contracts", "yin-yang contracts", and "routine loans". "Wait to expose Sogou borrowed money to the complaint platform." Industry insiders said that many users confuse comprehensive annualization and interest rate. If the platform does not disclose truthfully, the borrower pays a much higher cost than expected in the process of receiving financial services, which is essentially a Actual publicity, that is, involving fraud, may also be characterized as routine loans.
What's interesting is that during the investigation, Hujin News Agency discovered a too obvious coincidence: most users' borrowing rates on Sogou borrowing money remained at around 35.9%. To some extent, this phenomenon also reflects Sogou's frustration that it is eager to realize the traffic but cannot touch the red line. 0.01% below the red line is also low. In the mad trial of the red line, it is always more than 70% to think about the previous installment. " Safety".
Violent means of crazy collection of high interest rates caused controversy
In addition to the user questioning caused by the comprehensive annualization, in recent years, disputes such as "violent collection" and "high penalty interest" have also pushed Sogou to the top of public opinion.
As of the afternoon of April 7, 2020, there were a total of 599 complaints related to Sogou ’s borrowing money. Among them, except for the Yin and Yang contract, most other users complained that Sogou borrowed money to violently collect it by one day. The penalty rate is extremely high.
Hujin News Agency found that in the complaints related to the violent collection, most Sogou borrowing money users said that they were temporarily affected by the epidemic and lost their source of income. After consultation with the platform, the delay in repayment was unsuccessful, and later they were threatened by the platform and harassed their contacts.
A surnamed Mr. Rong said: "I have faithfully reflected the current situation with the platform and will repay the loan a few days later. As a result, their people dialed my phone and hit my friends in my address book in front of me. Harass my friend and ask my friend not to lend me money ... "This caused a great shadow in my heart.
Hujin News Agency tried to download the Sogou loan app, and the login interface showed that the user must authorize the address book when applying for the relevant loan, and must agree to the user agreement and privacy policy, otherwise the app cannot be used normally.
The privacy policy shows that when Sogou borrows money to provide services to users, it will collect information such as user contacts, personal online records, personal location letter information, and device signal usage.
Another user said in the complaint, "Sogou borrowed money for a loan of 4,200 yuan. Due to something at home, his father was hospitalized, and the capital turnover was not due to lead to overdue. The staff of Sogou borrowed money threatened to scare me by sending text messages. I told my family and all my relatives, and later I told the other party about the reason for the overdue. After consultation, their staff agreed to extend the deadline and reduce certain interest. (There is a telephone voice) Later, I saw that the other party did not reduce my interest as promised. , And interest rates and penalties for overdue payments are particularly high. "
According to the screenshot provided by the user, the loan of 4,200 yuan was paid off in 9 installments, and the comprehensive interest charge for each installment was 72.66 yuan. Among them, the user's 4-7 loan was overdue, involving a total of overdue handling fees of 382.91 yuan. The overdue fee is 210.33 yuan, the fifth period is 126.74 yuan, and the sixth period is 45.84 yuan. "Overdue fees are too high," the user said.
The industry believes that there are more and more complaints of violent collections and high-priced penalty interest overdue. It also reflects the increase in the number of overdue Sogou borrowing money. To some extent, the company's overdue rate may be rising. This may also be the reason why Sogou's latest financial report did not disclose the financial business situation.
Repeated water test several times stranded the flow into a chicken feather
Although there have been mixed opinions on the Internet finance industry in recent years, many Internet giants have been launched. Sina, Baidu, Ali, Jingdong, Sogou and other giants have long been deployed in the field of Internet finance. Sogou borrowing money is not the only way for Sogou to open financial services.
In 2015, Sogou, which has not yet obtained the loan qualification, launched Sogou Jiyipay. In May 2017, it changed its name to Chengdu Jiyifu and launched the "One Point Borrowing Money" app, which officially opened the cash loan business. At the end of 2017, Sogou ’s cash lending business was broken due to lack of licenses, and as a result of tightened regulations, a little borrowed money also entered a "dormant period" and was suspended.
The stranding of "a little borrowing of money" has not broken Sogou's "financial dream". This "spirit" who wants to lay out financial business can't do it without a license, then solve the license problem. In early 2018, after obtaining the online microloan license, Sogou launched a "one-stage installment" in the second quarter of 2018.
According to public information, "One Point Borrowing Money" is mainly for young white-collar workers and blue-collar workers. Its cash loan business is divided into two categories: one is small loans, with a term of 7-30 days, and the amount is between 500-3000 yuan; another The category is the small installment period in March-December, the amount is between 3,000 yuan and 5,000 yuan.
The blood of a chamber of blood hasn't had time to make large-scale blood for Sogou. The "one-point instalment" has once attracted the attention of the industry because of the comprehensive annualization of more than 70%, far exceeding the regulatory red line. The “one-point installment” stalled again, and Sogou ’s financial business was stranded again.
Dreams must be there, even if the road to realization is very difficult. In June 2019, Sogou launched “Sogou Borrowing Money” in a low-key manner. However, Sogou ’s unaudited financial report for the fourth quarter and full year of 2019 did not mention financial business. A large part of the reason is that the previous two financial layouts collapsed. Later, Sogou was eager to realize the flow of traffic, struggling to move forward on the red line, but now it is impossible to imagine that Sogou borrowed money again because of the "yin and yang contract", "violent collection", "high penalty interest" and so on.
I have to say that entering the financial industry is an endurance game with "uncertainty", and boring, trivial, and contradictory are the biggest tests on this road. More and more companies start with innovation and courage, but they eventually become a feather in the macro, capital and conflict.
In the face of the reality of weak performance growth and rising costs, it is not yet known when Sogou, which has huge user traffic, will show the correct way to open the layout of the financial leader, but the anxiety can not be eaten by hot tofu. In the general environment, there are really few opportunities left for Sogou.
