On January 8, the consumer service platform Black Cat complained about the release of the Red and Black List for the fourth quarter of 2020. Among them, Taobao, Tmall, Tmall Supermarket, Xianyu, Apple, WeBank, Youjiaxing, Flying Pig, Yanmu, and ofo are included in the black list.
In the third quarter of 2020, the news of long-term rental apartments running off the road was frequently exposed, and the eggshell apartment, a leading enterprise in long-term rental apartments, had a thunderstorm in the fourth quarter of 2020. Among them, WeBank, as a partner of Eggshell Apartments, has seen a surge in effective complaints and entered the quarterly blacklist for the first time.
In the fourth quarter of 2020, WeBank had more than 2,000 effective complaints, an increase of 412.71% from the third quarter. The complaints broke out in November and December, most of which were related to Eggshell Apartments. Data shows that from 2017 to 2019, the proportion of rent loan tenants was 91.3%, 75.8%, and 65.9%, respectively.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and other six departments pointed out in the guidance issued in December 2019 that the proportion of housing rental loans in the rental income of housing leasing companies should not exceed 30%. Judging from the prospectus data released by Eggshell Apartment, it is obviously far beyond this ratio requirement.
As an institution that cooperates with Eggshell Apartments in rent loans, WeBank is also caught up in a storm of public opinion. According to media reports, WeBank is the main partner of Eggshell Apartments in the financial sector. Currently, Eggshell Apartments’ rental loans amount to 3 billion to 4 billion yuan.
On November 16, 2020, WeBank stated that according to the "House Agency Lease Contract" signed by the user and Eggshell Apartment, it has formed a lease relationship with the owner, has prepaid rent, and enjoys legal residency rights. It is recommended to continue living. In case of retreat, water cut, power cut, etc., it is recommended to safeguard legitimate rights and interests through legal channels.
But it failed to solve any practical problems. On December 2, Weizhong Bank stated that all customers of the bank affected by the Eggshell Apartment incident will be granted interest-free extension for the remaining loan principal after the customer’s request and confirmation by the bank. Before December 31, 2023, The bank does not deduct money, does not accrue interest, and does not affect credit records.
On December 4, WeBank issued another statement stating that after the eggshell rental loan customers withdrew their lease, they signed an agreement with the bank to use the prepaid rent owed by the eggshell apartment to the customer after the cancellation of the lease to offset the customer's bank loan . According to the introduction, WeBank will settle the loan.
WeBank’s previous financial report shows that from 2017 to 2019, WeBank’s operating income was 6.748 billion yuan, 10.29 billion yuan and 14.87 billion yuan, and its net profit was 1.448 billion yuan, 2.474 billion yuan and 3.95 billion yuan. .
As of the end of 2019, WeBank’s total assets were 291.2 billion yuan, an increase of 32% over the beginning of the year. It is worth mentioning that WeBank's non-performing loan ratio rose from 0.64% in 2017 to 1.24% in 2019, and this figure was 0.51% in 2018.
Regarding the soaring non-performing rate, WeBank said that in the past year, in the context of increasing downward pressure on the economy, the bank has adhered to a prudent risk appetite policy and has taken the lead in the industry to change the standard for non-performing loans for asset quality from 90 days overdue to 60 day.
Recently, Gu Min, chairman of WeBank, said in an interview with a reporter from 21st Century Business Herald that WeBank is facing the possibility of total loss in the eggshell apartment project. However, Gu Min believes that this loss has little impact on WeBank's financial statements.
Gu Min, Chairman of WeBank
Gu Min said, “The scale of the eggshell project has always been controlled at about 1 billion, accounting for less than five thousandths. On the other hand, Weizhong has already reserved enough loss preparations for all innovative projects. The eggshell project failed, we The reserved provision is used, but it will not have much impact on revenue and financial statements."
“In the past, we were more based on the requirements of laws and regulations, or achieved higher in some projects, but did not regard it as the bottom line.” Gu Min said in reflection that in the future we should adopt higher standards for consumer protection ,this point is very important.
Regarding the rental loan business, Gu Min said that the new rental loan business has been completely stopped at the beginning of December 2020, and the total stock is about 1 billion. It is expected that it can be completely withdrawn in November 2021.