Chapter 416 Digging a Hole
Wu Yi had just stood up and was about to leave the office to revise the cooperation plan as required by the chairman, but was stopped by Song Ci.
“Is the test of WeChat Yu’ebao completed?”
With the nationwide promotion of WeChat Pay, and the convenience of transfer brought by the quick payment function, a large number of users have bound their bank cards to WeChat Pay, and the idle funds of hundreds of millions of users have been deposited in WeChat balance accounts.
At present, the total funds in Tengda Group’s WeChat account balance have reached 350 billion, which is a quite astonishing number.
"The Yu'ebao interface has been completed, and its security has been repeatedly tested to ensure it is foolproof. I will follow up with you on any subsequent recommendations," Wu Yi replied solemnly.
It is hard to hide the excitement and longing in his words. After all, there are hundreds of billions of funds lying in WeChat payment accounts. As long as it is used properly, the benefits that can be created are immeasurable.
"Don't touch this money for now. I'll start the Yu'ebao issue after I've reached an agreement with the bank." Song Ci nodded, then changed the subject, "How's the progress of the thing I asked you to do?"
Wu Yi understood: "Mr. Song, I have already disclosed the news of the company's development of Yu'ebao to Alipay according to your request. But..."
As if guessing his subordinates' confusion, Song Ci smiled and explained: "The ultimate design concept of Yu'ebao is to allow users to enjoy high annualized returns on their idle funds through money funds.
It also supports real-time consumption and redemption. But have you ever thought about what consequences this will cause? "
Wu Yi thought without hesitation: "It will inevitably lead to a large-scale transfer of bank deposits!"
Song Ci's expression became serious: "This is not the most critical point. Yu'ebao converts users' ordinary deposits into agreement deposits, and then returns them to the bank at a high interest rate of 6%. This will greatly increase the bank's liability cost from 3% for ordinary deposits to 6%."
Yu'ebao can achieve high returns, and its core operating mechanism lies in the "agreement deposit" with the bank.
In essence, it is a special deposit business in which money funds gather retail investors' funds to form huge funds, and then negotiate interest rates with banks in an institutional capacity.
This type of negotiated interest rate is agreed upon by both parties and is not subject to the central bank's benchmark interest rate. Currently, this type of special interest rate of commercial banks on the market is generally not lower than 6%.
If Tengda Group wants to carve out a path in the field of Internet financial technology, the road ahead is long and arduous, and the first hurdle is the major state-owned banks.
Wu Yi felt his scalp tingling when he thought that Yu'ebao had affected the interests of banks and that Tengda Group would be facing a head-on confrontation with major banks across the country.
Only then did he understand why the product had been developed long ago but the chairman had been slow to implement it. He also vaguely guessed the deep meaning behind deliberately passing the news of the company's development of Yu'ebao to Alibaba Group.
Although Alipay's market share and size are not as large as WeChat Pay, the idle funds in its accounts are estimated to be no less than 100 billion.
Once the other party learns of the existence of Yu'e Bao, they will definitely quickly develop similar products to seize the market.
Moreover, the chairman deliberately postponed the launch time of Yu'ebao, perhaps wanting Alipay to take the lead and test the reactions of major banks first.
A week passed in a flash and it was August 16th.
Early morning at Alibaba Group headquarters in Hangzhou.
Ma Jieke had just sat down at his desk, ready to start his day's work, when his cell phone suddenly vibrated.
I looked up and saw that it was Toutiao that pushed a piece of news: "Tengda and State Grid have reached a historic cooperation, WeChat Pay opens a new era of electricity bill payment!"
Seeing the title, Ma Jieke's expression suddenly changed.
While quickly clicking on the link, I secretly admired that Tenda Group's big data technology is really powerful, and the messages pushed can accurately hit the user's attention points.
Although Alibaba has also been conducting big data research in recent years, it started late and still has a big gap with Tencent in technology.
Majek swiped his finger across the screen and read it carefully:
"On August 15, 2012, Song Ci, Chairman of Tengda Group, led a team to visit Liu Zhenya, General Manager of State Grid Corporation of China, and the two sides held strategic consultations on "Internet + Power Services".
After several rounds of talks, Tenda and State Grid officially signed a cooperation agreement, announcing that WeChat Pay would be integrated into the electricity bill payment system and would take the lead in launching a pilot project in Jiangsu Province.
This move marks the first time that China's basic public services sector has been opened to mobile payment platforms, and is also a key step for State Grid to embrace the "Internet +" transformation. "
After reading the report, Majek frowned.
Electricity bill payment is one of the most important scenarios in the public payment field. Now that Tenda Group has taken the lead, the gap between Alipay and WeChat Pay is likely to widen further!
I immediately dialed the phone: "Penglei, come over here."
About ten minutes later, the president of Alipay came to the office.
Ma Jieke couldn't wait to ask: "Have you read the news about the State Grid Corporation?"
"I saw it!" Peng Lei nodded. The opponent was getting stronger and stronger, which doubled her pressure.
After his subordinates sat down, Ma Jieke continued to ask: "You mentioned some time ago that you wanted to connect Alipay to the Zhejiang Province water fee payment system. This is a good idea. It has been more than two months. How is the progress?"
“It’s still a work in progress.”
"Why is the efficiency so low!" Ma Jieke was displeased, "Do you need me to come forward and communicate with the relevant leaders?"
Peng Lei looked embarrassed: "Mr. Ma, there are still some technical problems. We have to wait for a while before we can solve them."
“Why does it seem like Alipay is having such a hard time? I don’t believe it’s that difficult to integrate WeChat Pay into the electricity bill system.”
Ma Jieke was a little annoyed and very dissatisfied with his subordinates' execution ability. "Come on, tell me, what is the technical problem?"
Seeing the chairman's annoyed look, Peng Lei hurriedly explained: "Mr. Ma, electricity charges are different from water charges. The water systems in various cities in Zhejiang Province are independent, and the user coding rules in each city are not unified.
In addition, we need to develop multi-interface adaptation solutions to connect with bank collection and business hall data synchronization, and the workload of technical development is really too heavy.”
Ma Jieke's expression eased a little: "If you have any other difficulties, tell me all of them."
“Mr. Ma, the water fee adopts a split account settlement model, and the user’s payment needs to be split in real time.
The water fee will go into the company's account, and the sewage treatment fee will go directly into the state treasury, into the special account for fiscal taxes and fees." Finally getting the chance, Peng Lei complained bitterly.
Listening to Peng Lei's long chatter, Ma Jie Ke rubbed his temples and said to comfort her: "Okay, I know your difficulties, just get this done as soon as possible."
Peng Lei breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you Mr. Ma for your understanding. I know the seriousness of the matter."
"In addition to cooperating with the State Grid, has WeChat Pay made any other big moves recently?"
Ma Jieke asked casually, but Peng Lei looked serious: "Boss Ma, I got an important piece of news recently."
Majek immediately leaned forward and urged, “Hurry up and tell me!”
"Recently, Tengda has been thinking about using WeChat Pay's deposit money and has designed a current financial management tool called Yu'ebao..."
"Is the news reliable?"
Peng Lei nodded solemnly: "It should be reliable. I have specially investigated and confirmed that Tengda is contacting several small licensed funds and is preparing to acquire a fund management company."
"Then there's basically no escape!" Majek narrowed his eyes and fell into deep thought, pondering the possible impact of this incident.
"Mr. Ma, there are more than 100 billion in the Alipay account balance. Do you want to learn from Tengda..."
Peng Lei asked for instructions cautiously. She had already thought about it after receiving the news and knew that this matter would inevitably affect the interests of the bank.
Ma Jieke gritted his teeth and immediately made the decision: "We must launch Alipay's balance management service, and we must do it quickly!
As for the bank, we should take it one step at a time and push the project forward first. It was the same with Alipay back then. We should just do it first and talk about it later!"
"Okay, I had already started preparations when I got the news, and the financial products will be developed soon." Peng Lei agreed and stood up to say goodbye.
Looking at the back of the female president of Alipay, Ma Jieke's thoughts surged, and he subconsciously asked: "What is Tongyu doing recently?"
Peng Lei paused but did not turn around. He sighed faintly, "He has been running the Bocas Education Software Company for the past two years and has lived a very fulfilling life."
“That’s good!” Majie sighed. “I hope that after all these years, he has figured it out.”
"He didn't blame you!"
Ma Jieke felt helpless. He had to be on guard against the couple Sun Tongyu and Peng Lei, one of whom was the father of Taobao and the other was the president of Alipay!
In late August, Tengda Group has made new moves:
First, it established a joint venture with South Korea's Shilla Hotel Company to establish Weibo (Korea) branch, with Samsung Group's eldest princess Lee Boo-jin as president, responsible for daily operations.
Then it reached a strategic cooperation with SM Entertainment, the largest entertainment company in South Korea.
According to SM's real-time market value of 6 billion yuan, it invested 300 million yuan in a targeted investment, holding 5% of the shares, and obtained the exclusive copyright and distribution rights of SM Entertainment's one million Korean songs in China.
It is September on earth, with autumn wind and bright moon.
On the 1st, the 10th Bazaar Star Charity Night kicked off grandly in Beijing’s 798 Art District.
It coincided with the 10th anniversary celebration of the Bazaar Charity Gala, and the scene was particularly grand.
Big-name stars like Cheng Long, Wang Fei and Li Yapeng, and Huang Xiaoming made appearances as in previous years. Superstar Jay Chou also attended the Bazaar Charity Night for the first time, appearing with a weathered stubble look, attracting a lot of attention.
On the red carpet, Liu Yifei was dressed in an elegant red dress, swaying gracefully and looking bright and charming, and next to her was Deng Chao, who was dressed as a handsome man.
Liu Tianxian and Deng Chao were filming the sequel to "The Four" and were promoting the upcoming movie "The Palace of the Bronze Bird", so they were arranged to be the last to walk the red carpet.
After the two signed their names and took photos on the autograph wall, the red carpet segment of tonight's Bazaar Charity Night came to an end.
The media immediately started talking about it because they did not see the Song Dynasty poet Liu Shishi and her husband.
It would be fine if the richest man didn't come, after all, he is very busy and whether he is willing to come depends on his interest, but the absence of the eldest sister is really strange.
Liu Shishi was just elected as the Golden Eagle Goddess yesterday. Coupled with the previous hit of "Xuan-Yuan Sword" and the residual heat brought by the Olympics, her popularity has been at its peak recently.
The reporters wanted to take this opportunity to conduct a proper interview, but they did not see Yi Jie present.
The charity night was filled with people.
Lehua Entertainment President Du Hua was greeting Cai Yinong enthusiastically: "Mr. Cai, why don't you see Mr. Liu?"
Cai Yinong was puzzled because Liu Shishi had not told her before that she would not attend the Bazaar Charity Night, but just now she sent a message saying that she would not come.
Facing Du Hua's question, he could only answer casually: "Shishi has something to do and can't come."
Du Hua secretly regretted that Tengda Group had invested in South Korea's SM Entertainment. She had wanted to take this opportunity tonight to discuss with Liu Shishi, hoping that Sister Yi could act as a matchmaker so that Lehua and SM could cooperate on the idol trainee project.
Unfortunately, Sister Yi didn’t come, so I can only look for another opportunity.
Although tonight is the 10th anniversary of Bazaar Charity Night and the number of guests attending is far greater than in previous years, the momentum is far less than last year.
After all, the previous richest couple was in charge, and three presidents of foreign high-end luxury brands were also present, so it was a grand occasion.
The event officially kicked off with the performance of Chopin's Waltz No. 1 by the famous pianist Lang Lang, and Jay Chou's song "Blue and White Porcelain" pushed the atmosphere of the party to a climax.
Below the stage, Cai Yinong sneered as he looked at the female stars competing with each other for beauty tonight.
She will release a bombshell news later to overshadow these people. Don't think that you can take the lead without the presence of the number one sister.
At the same time, in the master bedroom of Jingyuan Villa, the lights were soft.
Liu Shishi was leaning against the head of the bed, holding an iPad in her hand, looking at a golden long dress with a train on the screen with great interest.
“It doesn’t look good.”
Her husband's voice interrupted Liu Shishi's thoughts. Her heart skipped a beat and she turned to look sideways: "Yi Yi, you're awake!"
As she spoke, she gently placed her forehead against her husband's, feeling the warmth coming from him, and nodded in satisfaction: "The fever has gone down."
Song Ci had a slight fever today, so Liu Shishi took care of him at home and simply did not go to the Bazaar Charity Gala.
After taking antipyretics and resting for an afternoon, Song Ci regained a lot of energy. He propped himself up and leaned against the head of the bed side by side with Liu Shishi.
"The dress designed by Xiangnan TV for the Golden Eagle Goddess is so ugly that it hurts the eyes. How about this, you tell the organizer of the Golden Eagle Festival and I will customize one for you for 3 million yuan."
Liu Shishi held her husband's hand and said softly, "Don't talk about the dress first! Yiyi, you haven't had dinner yet, what would you like to eat? I'll ask Sister Li to bring it up."
"No, I'll go downstairs to eat later."
"That's fine!"
The two chatted casually, and the topic gradually turned to the upcoming Golden Eagle Awards.
Song Ci curled her lips: "Xiangnan TV will take advantage of your popularity."
Liu Shishi smiled and said, "As long as the fans are happy."
This year, the selection rules for the Golden Eagle Goddess have been adjusted, and the new standard has been changed to audience voting.
The candidate must be the heroine of a drama exclusively broadcast by Shonan TV. For the first time, quantitative indicators such as the artist's endorsement index and social media popularity were also included.
At the same time, it is mandatory for this year's goddesses to cooperate with the entire promotion of the Golden Eagle Festival.
Liu Shishi won the first place in the online voting with 68% of the total votes, and was strongly elected as the fourth Golden Eagle Goddess.
Song Ci actually felt a little disdainful in his heart. Xiangnan Satellite TV really used all kinds of tricks to attract traffic. No wonder the Golden Eagle Awards became less and less popular. But seeing that his wife was so happy, he didn't say anything more.
"Honey, if you think the dress doesn't look good, I'll talk to the organizer again."
Liu Shishi snuggled in her husband's arms, saying coquettishly, "Although the Golden Eagle Goddess robe will be displayed to the national audience, it is mainly worn for you to see!"
(End of this chapter)
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