Chinanews client, Beijing, January 12th (Peng Jingru) The central bank has zoomed in again!

This time it is related to the credit card in your hand.

　　Recently, the Central Bank issued the "Notice on Promoting the Market-oriented Reform of Credit Card Overdraft Interest Rates". Starting from January 1, 2021, credit card overdraft interest rates will be independently negotiated and determined by card issuers and cardholders, and the upper and lower limit management of credit card overdraft interest rates will be cancelled.

　　Previously, the upper limit of the credit card overdraft interest rate stipulated by the central bank was five ten thousandths of a daily interest rate, and the lower limit was 0.7 times the daily interest rate of five ten thousandths.

Now, what impact will the marketization of credit card overdraft interest rates have?

Data map: Bank staff in Taiyuan, Shanxi, displayed various credit cards.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhang Yun

Credit card overdraft interest or overall decline

　　According to data from the central bank, as of the end of the third quarter of 2020, the number of bank cards in use nationwide was 8.798 billion, of which the number of credit cards and debit cards in use totaled 766 million, and the average number of credit cards and debit cards per capita was 0.55. .

Therefore, the impact of the new regulations is not small.

　　In reality, the credit card interest-free repayment period set by various banks will be different, and the bookkeeping date will be different, and the interest-free period will also be different.

Generally speaking, the interest-free repayment period of credit cards is around 20-50 days.

During the interest-free period, the cardholder does not need to pay interest on the pending amount. When the cardholder cannot repay the full amount and the payment is overdue, interest will accrue, that is, the interest will be calculated on a daily basis and compounded monthly from the day of consumption.

　　In other words, regardless of whether the upper and lower limits of the credit card overdraft interest rate are cancelled, it will not have much impact on credit card users who make normal repayments, and the main ones affected are credit card users who cannot repay on time.

　　Dong Ximiao, the chief researcher of China Merchants Union Finance, judged that in general, credit card overdraft interest rates may "go down."

"In general, the entire credit card overdraft interest rate will be lowered to a certain extent. In particular, small and medium banks may attract more customers through lower overdraft interest rates. For large banks, the overdraft interest rates for high-quality customers may also be more favorable."

　　"For consumers, this is a favorable thing, because everyone can shop around when applying for credit cards, and there is more room for choice." Zhao Xijun, co-director of the China Capital Market Research Institute of Renmin University of China, told Chinanews.com Said that consumers will also face challenges and need to pay attention to balancing their income and expenditures, rather than excessive consumption leading to high debts.

　　The "Notice" clarified that card issuers should fully disclose credit card overdraft interest rates through channels such as the institution's official website and update them in a timely manner, and should prominently indicate credit card overdraft interest rates and methods of calculation and settlement in the credit card agreement to ensure that cardholders fully understand and confirm accept.

　　"When disclosing the interest rate of credit card overdrafts, the annualized interest rate should be displayed in an obvious way, not just the daily interest rate, daily repayment amount, etc."

Data map: A bank branch in Shanxi.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhang Yun

Will credit card interest rate price wars occur?

　　"Banks cannot blindly attract more customers through price wars." Zhao Xijun said that although banks have the right to set their own prices, they also assume more responsibilities.

If there is a price war, it means that the bank will have to take more risks, because the customers absorbed in this way are more likely to be high-risk customers.

　　"Blindly fighting a price war may even lead to an increase in non-performing assets. Therefore, this is a double-edged sword and a test of the ability of banks to balance risks and returns." Zhao Xijun said.

　　In Dong Ximiao's view, after the implementation of the New Deal, the cancellation of the upper and lower limits of credit card overdraft interest rates does not mean that there is no management.

　　"The central bank will still use window guidance and other methods to guide banks to maintain a reasonable and fair competition order. Banks will also set reasonable prices for credit card overdraft rates based on their market positioning and capital costs, and will not fight a price war without a bottom line. "Dong Ximiao said.

　　Credit card business income occupies an important position in the bank's retail business. The credit card market is undoubtedly tempting and full of challenges in the future. How should banks play a good policy card?

　　Yu Xuxin, vice president of Tongdun Technology and general manager of Tongdun Consulting, believes that the answer is differentiated pricing capabilities.

Differentiated pricing capabilities may provide convenience for many banks to overtake in curves, and it will also be an important key point for bank credit card center competition in the future.

Data map.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhang Yun

Will the "Huabe" and "White Tiao" interest rates be reduced by the shock?

　　Letting go of the constraints of credit card overdraft interest rates means that in the field of credit consumption, the head-on confrontation between credit card business and various Internet credit consumer products will be inevitable. Will Internet credit consumer products such as "huabei" and "baitiao" be affected? ?

　　A related person of a financial technology platform told Chinanews.com that the competition between the products of major Internet companies and banks (including credit card business) has never relied not only on prices, but on the connection between consumption scenarios and high-consumption payments. Therefore, after the marketization of credit card overdraft interest rates, the impact on these Internet financial products will be limited.

　　However, some people believe that the reduction in credit card overdraft interest rates will drive down the pricing of licensed lending institutions, including Internet loan products such as "Huabe" and "White Tiao".

　　Bank credit card business competes with Internet credit consumer products, and banks are faced with restrictions on channels, scenarios, and customer acquisition. These are precisely the moats of Internet giants with their own ecology, consumption scenarios, and traffic channels.

　　Yu Xuxin believes that under the blessing of various new technologies, new policies and other factors, if bank credit card business wants to develop continuously and efficiently, it needs to focus on several things: one is to refine customer operations and tap high-potential and high-value customers; Differentiate competition, increase volume and increase business profits at the same time; thirdly, grasp risk control while achieving rapid growth to achieve high-quality and steady growth; fourthly, improve data management and analysis capabilities.

　　In Zhao Xijun's view, the liberalization of the upper and lower limits of credit card overdraft interest rates makes the environment more fair, and everyone can eat according to their abilities.

"In the past, different institutions were subject to different regulatory requirements and restrictions for the same consumer lending. The new regulations have relatively reduced the different constraints between different institutions, and the competition between various consumer financial instruments will be more fair. Reasonable." (End)