Digital Currency Era: Financial Institutions' Dark War on Payment Preference and Stickiness

With the implementation of the digital renminbi red envelope pilot, the concept and usage scenarios of digital currency have gradually become clear. From October 12th to 18th, Shenzhen's "Lixiang Luohu Digital RMB Red Packet" was officially put into use. Compared with the previous small-scale pilots, the scope of the digital renminbi pilot has expanded to the public level for the first time, and has sunk to the most frequently used consumption scenarios. The reporter of "China Business Daily" learned from the interview that in the future, digital currency will also be applied in small and high-frequency transaction scenarios, such as medical care, utility charges, education, shopping, beauty and other fields. However, during this pilot process, consumers found that the digital RMB red envelopes are similar to Alipay and WeChat in terms of trial experience and scenarios; at the same time, from the perspective of the participants, commercial banks also seem to be seizing the "first opportunity". I can't help but wonder, will the digital renminbi steal the "jobs" of WeChat and Alipay? Is the emergence of digital renminbi aimed at innovation in the payment field? What is the meaning of commercial banks for the layout of digital renminbi? Application scenarios are expected to broaden Since the research and development began in 2014, the "every move" of digital currency has attracted much attention. The digital currency launched by the People's Bank of China is positioned as an M0 replacement, that is, it is intended to gradually replace the use of cash. Mu Changchun, director of the Central Bank's Digital Currency Research Institute, once explained that the functions and attributes of digital currency are exactly the same as banknotes, except that its form is digital. Founder of Scion Asset Management Company: If group stocks and digital currency collapse, retail investors’ losses will reach the national scale: According to Wall Street news, the prototype of the movie "The Big Short", the founder of Scion Asset Management Company, which once made a lot of money by shorting subprime mortgages Prominent Michael Burry warned investors on Twitter that if retail group stocks and digital currencies collapse, the losses will reach the level of "country scale". The tweet has now been deleted. [2021/6/20 23:50:40] With the implementation of the digital RMB red envelope pilot, a breakthrough has been made in the testing of digital currency. In this Shenzhen digital RMB red envelope pilot activity, a total of 1.9138 million people applied for trial qualifications, and 50,000 people were finally selected. Wang Min (pseudonym) is one of them. "The digital renminbi was issued at 6 p.m. on the 12th, and I went to use it that night." Wang Min told reporters that to try the digital renminbi, you first need to download an app, and you can pay by showing the payment code when you consume. Available merchants include supermarkets, Catering, clothing, etc. It is reported that the amount of each red envelope in the Shenzhen digital RMB red envelope is 200 yuan, and the winners can spend without threshold at 3,389 merchants in Luohu District that have completed the transformation of the digital RMB system from 18:00 on the 12th to 24:00 on the 18th. However, Wang Min said frankly: "The current experience of using digital renminbi is actually similar to Alipay, WeChat, etc. Now it is not as convenient as WeChat and Alipay, and the merchants to choose from are also limited." This is also the general feeling of many experiencers in the interview. . Quotes | Digital currency market report at night: According to data from the Huobi trading platform, the latest transaction price of BTC is 8299.97 US dollars, the highest price is 8471.13 US dollars, the lowest price is 7379.97 US dollars, and the transaction volume is 42,800, an increase of 11.66%. The highest price was US$178.79, the lowest price was US$159.6, and the transaction volume was 610,600, an increase of 8.99%. [2019/10/26] Mobile payment network analyst She Yunfeng pointed out that although the current use of digital RMB is limited, as a legal tender, it can theoretically be used in all RMB suitable scenarios, which also depends on the transformation of the receiving end. "The difficulty of implementing the scenario may mainly lie in the transformation of the entire digital renminbi ecosystem, including acceptance-end equipment, user-end habits, clearing and settlement systems, and transaction processing under high load, etc." She Yunfeng said. However, WeChat and Alipay have rich scenarios, are more convenient to use, and the system is stable. In this context, what is the difference between the launch of digital RMB and WeChat, Alipay, etc.? China (Shanghai) Free Trade Zone Research Institute, Liu Bin, director of the Financial Research Office of the Pudong Reform and Development Institute, pointed out that the central bank’s digital currency is a liability of the central bank and has unlimited legal repayment; while WeChat, Alipay and other electronic currencies are settled with commercial bank deposit currency It is not the central bank's liabilities. From this point of view, there is a fundamental difference. Bitcoin pioneer Nick Szabo proposed three future improvement directions for digital currency: Bitcoin pioneer Nick Szabo recently stated that digital currency should have three "most important improvements" in the next few years: 1. "Key management" form 2. Trust-minimized (decentralized) exchange architecture; 3. The second layer solution is more user-friendly. [2018/4/26] "At this stage, it is necessary to pay a handling fee by redeeming from a third-party payment institution to the commercial bank account system, which brings additional costs to consumers, especially individual industrial and commercial households; and the digital RMB positioning M0 , is a legal currency and a public good. The digital renminbi system will become a free value transfer system and financial infrastructure that benefits the public. That is, when individuals redeem and redeem digital renminbi, commercial banks will not charge service fees. "Hao Yi, a researcher at the Bank of China Research Institute, analyzed to reporters. Coexistence of digital currency and third-party payment "From the official information, the digital renminbi retains the existing payment and settlement system to the greatest extent, that is, WeChat and Alipay will still exist after the official operation of the digital renminbi, and digital currency and electronic currency will emerge. Coexistence, the simultaneous use of digital RMB wallets, WeChat wallets, and Alipay wallets.” Hao Yi said. Chen Wenbu, director of the Digital Economy Research Center of the School of Finance, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, believes that at the moment when third-party payment is so convenient, the absolute scale of cash use is still relatively large, which fully shows that the promotion of digital legal currency can fill the gap in the market, not necessarily to seize the first place. The third-party payment agency market; and due to the controllable anonymity that digital renminbi is expected to achieve, the public's increasing attention to personal information privacy in the era of digital economy also provides a guarantee for the incremental market of the central bank's digital currency. Digital currency early train 7:00: Since South Korea announced that it will strengthen the supervision of anonymous exchanges, the global mainstream cryptocurrency prices have finally seen a correction, showing a general upward trend. As of 7:00, the global average price of BTC was 94,795 yuan, a 24-hour increase of 1.77%, and the 24-hour trading volume was 104,311.79 million; the global average price of BCH was 18,339 yuan, a 24-hour increase of 7.06%; the 24-hour trading volume was 17,906.66 million; the global average price of ETH 4,848 yuan, a 24-hour increase of 2.38%; 24-hour trading volume of 18,458.13 million; ETC global average price of 193 yuan, 24-hour increase of 0.98%; 24-hour trading volume of 1,804.64 million; LTC global average price of 1,588 yuan, 24-hour decrease of 0.49%; 24 The hourly trading volume is 10,285,370,000. [2017/12/30] "In the case of how convenient Alipay and WeChat payment are, it is difficult for digital RMB to reflect stronger convenience than existing payment solutions in normal general scenarios, and more articles may be done in the dimension of security .” Chen Wenru said. Xue Hongyan, vice president of Suning Financial Research Institute, also believes that the central bank's digital currency has no intention of competing with mobile payments. "With the strong penetration of legal tender, the central bank's digital currency can easily achieve wide coverage of the number of users and payment scenarios, which will inevitably make many mobile banking apps envious. However, the positioning of cash means that banks will not pay interest on the central bank's digital currency. The central bank's digital currency has a strong 'change' attribute, and residents are naturally unwilling to hold it in large quantities. The limit on the number of residents' holdings fundamentally limits its ability to penetrate payment scenarios. In contrast, whether it is a bank Demand deposits, currency funds with limited real-time transaction quotas, and credit payment tools represented by credit cards all allow users to enjoy the double bonus of real-time transaction flexibility and asset interest-bearing returns. Only such tools are deeply in the hearts of users , can represent the mainstream payment trend." Morning digital currency market analysis: According to data from the Bitfinex trading platform, the latest transaction price of BTC is 100,911.49 yuan, the highest price is 114,484.81 yuan, the lowest price is 97,760.90 yuan, and the transaction volume is 69,100 yuan, a decrease of 0.18%; ETH The latest transaction price is 5,127.48 yuan, the highest price is 5,601.59 yuan, the lowest price is 4,934.61 yuan, and the transaction volume is 357,800 yuan, an increase of 1.92%. 7.70%; The latest transaction price of ETC is 244.81 yuan, the highest price is 252.99 yuan, the lowest price is 233.81 yuan, the transaction volume is 285,800 yuan, an increase of 1.29%; the latest transaction price of LTC is 1,941.88 yuan, the highest price is 2,166.45 yuan, the lowest price is 1,849.41 yuan, the transaction volume 454,000, an increase of 3.03%. [2017/12/22] Hao Yi told reporters that third-party payment institutions artificially set up transaction barriers for competition. For example, WeChat and Alipay block each other's payment methods in their respective application scenarios, causing transaction obstacles and increasing users' additional payment costs and usage burdens. "On the one hand, the digital renminbi is a legal currency and has unlimited legal solvency, which can effectively break down existing transaction barriers; Build a unified standard financial infrastructure, reduce the waste of resources caused by inconsistent standards and transaction barriers, and save transaction costs.” When talking about the significance of the central bank’s issuance of digital currency, Yang Jun, a researcher of blockchain and digital currency, added, Compared with cash, digital currency can track the flow of funds, which can improve the efficiency of the central bank's monetary regulation, and effectively solve the problem that the pro-cyclical characteristics of financial institutions themselves lead to the inability of the central bank's counter-cyclical adjustment to be optimal. The central bank analyzes the flow of funds , Different liquidity prices can be set for different capital demanders, so as to realize the regulation and control of the credit structure of commercial banks. At the same time, the traceability of digital currency will also become a regulatory weapon for the "three antis" (anti-money laundering, anti-terrorist financing, and anti-tax evasion), and promote the development of compliance technology. It is worth mentioning that in addition to the Shenzhen Central Sub-branch of the People's Bank of China and the Shenzhen Municipal Government Service Data Administration, the participants in this event also included four state-owned banks: China Bank, Agriculture Bank, Industry Bank, and Construction Bank. Shenzhen Branch. When participating in the lottery, the applicant will choose one of the four major banks of Industry, Agriculture, China, and Construction in advance as the bank to receive the digital RMB red envelope. On the evening of October 11, the General Office of the Central Committee and the Office of the State Council issued the "Implementation Plan for the Comprehensive Reform Pilot of Shenzhen's Pioneering Demonstration Zone for Building Socialism with Chinese Characteristics (2020-2025)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan"), which clarified that Shenzhen's future five main goals for the year. From the perspective of specific terms, the "Plan" provides key support for the development of Shenzhen's financial industry from three aspects. It is mentioned that a financial technology innovation platform should be established on the basis of the Shenzhen subsidiary of the Digital Currency Research Institute of the People's Bank of China; support the development of digital RMB Internal closed pilot testing to promote the development and application of digital renminbi and international cooperation. In this context, industry insiders believe that it will be promising for banking institutions to take the lead in deploying digital renminbi. "Choose a different bank to open a digital renminbi wallet, and the user can become a digital renminbi user of the bank, and the corresponding user data will be in the hands of the bank. Under the current test environment, the wallet experience of the four major banks based on the digital renminbi APP is different. It is the same, and the possibility of personalized functions in the future cannot be ruled out." She Yunfeng analyzed. "At present, the biggest attraction of digital currency to commercial banks is the accumulation of payment transaction data that is expected to be formed by its retail payment tools, so as to promote banks to enrich retail financial product lines based on these data. However, it is necessary to determine the central bank and commercial banks. Regarding the possession and use rights of transaction data, the relevant data should not be used only for compliance review, but the value of the data should be fully utilized under the premise of compliance." Chen Wen analyzed to the reporter. Hao Yi gave an example that in commercial banks’ corporate scenarios, loans to small, medium and micro enterprises have always been a problem for commercial banks. The main difficulty lies in the asymmetry of information between the borrower and the lender. The operation of digital renminbi can alleviate the information asymmetry to a large extent. . "When corporate customers apply for loans, commercial banks can use the data generated by the circulation of digital renminbi to collect and sort out the company's own business management information, business information on the company's supply chain, management information related to business operations, etc., which will help Get a comprehensive understanding of the company at the commercial bank." Hao Yi pointed out. Hao Yi also suggested that commercial banks can actively market according to customers' use of digital renminbi, that is, by analyzing customers' investment and financial management, stock trading, foreign exchange and other information, they can accurately portray customers. Customers and controlling customer risks play a key role. Jin Tian, a special researcher at the Digital Economy Research Institute of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, told reporters: "If digital renminbi becomes an important payment method for users in the future, the user's choice of banking channel may have a greater impact on their stickiness and loyalty. For example, some life Will payment, credit card and loan deduction, fund fixed investment deduction, etc., be able to support direct payment in the form of digital renminbi in the future? If so, once the user no longer relies on a certain bank, then the loss for this bank will be Not only current funds, but the stickiness of users, and ultimately the users themselves. Therefore, it seems to be a competition for digital RMB channel selection, but in essence it is a competition for user acquisition, activation and retention.” Liu Bin added , The central bank's digital currency adopts a two-tier operating system. Commercial banks pay 100% of the reserve, obtain the central bank's digital currency, and then distribute it to consumers through commercial bank channels. In the future, other commercial banks will also adopt this model to participate in the distribution and operation of the central bank's digital currency, but each commercial bank may choose a suitable application scenario according to its own advantages and characteristics. Therefore, different commercial banks will have different emphases in operating digital currency.

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