Develop online business and broaden marketing channels——
Can the bank's live broadcast "carrying goods" drive retail transformation?
Our reporter Lu Min
The live broadcast of goods has spread all over the Internet, and it has also become one of the ways for banks to broaden their sales channels.
Since last year, large state-owned banks, joint-stock commercial banks, and small and medium-sized banks have all tested the waters, setting off a "finance + live broadcast" marketing boom, covering financial poverty alleviation, investor education, financial product recommendation and many other aspects.
In the context of the continuous advancement of industry reforms, various banks are exploring new business transformation models. Can the banks successfully "bring goods" when launching live broadcasts? Is the new business model compliant?
Moreover, it is worth noting that the "finance + live broadcast" business model has also encountered some problems in the development process, which needs to be further regulated.
Sales model innovation
Due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, since last year, various banks have launched online business, and the "live delivery" method has become the choice of many institutions.
In August last year, Ping An Bank’s credit card first tried multi-platform live card sales. According to statistics from the bank, more than 4 million people watched the two-hour live broadcast that day.
In the past, credit cards were basically used in crowded areas with "local promotion" and acquaintances "customer promotion", coupled with bank counter sales, while live card sales broke the inherent thinking of the past and innovated the sales model.
Yu Ruzhong, president of Ping An Bank’s credit card center, said that credit cards, as mature retail products, are also the most accepted products by users. The use of live broadcast "carrying goods" can play a "pioneer" role in the bank's retail transformation.
In addition to Ping An Bank, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank and China Merchants Bank also took aim at the live broadcast room, and all used the live broadcast industry influencers to carry out product marketing.
In addition to its own products, the banks that carry the most live-streaming products include various types of agricultural products.
In the context of helping poverty alleviation last year, large state-owned banks and joint-stock commercial banks have leveraged their platform advantages to cooperate with various localities to promote live-streaming and sales of various agricultural products.
For example, China Construction Bank relied on Shanrong's business e-commerce platform to launch "Rural Shanrong" and held live broadcast activities for various agricultural products, and continued such activities into this year.
In the first five months of this year, Shanrong Business carried out 89 activities to promote agriculture, and the transaction volume of e-commerce to develop agriculture exceeded 5 billion yuan.
Small and medium banks are not to be outdone.
Recently, Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial Bank hosted the live broadcast of "Peach You Happy" in Shishanggang City.
According to reports, this is the third time that the bank has carried out live broadcast of assistance to farmers, and it is also the 22nd stop of the live broadcast of assistance to farmers in the "Great American Jiangsu Rural Tour" of the Jiangsu Associated Press.
The two-hour live broadcast of assistance to farmers has attracted 233,000 people to watch, and sold 6,558 special agricultural products such as peaches, yellow peaches, rice, and forest chickens, with sales exceeding 290,000 yuan.
From assisting poverty alleviation to continuing to promote rural revitalization, banks have not only helped the development of some impoverished areas, but also accumulated popularity for themselves through new forms such as helping farmers live broadcast.
From the perspective of the industry, popularity is "traffic" and a new channel for banks to acquire customers.
This has become the main reason why many banks would rather lose money but also "earn yelling" through live broadcasts.
Accelerating the pace of transformation
Banks are experimenting with live marketing, which also highlights the current industry's trend of accelerating retail transformation.
Behind the banks' efforts to strive for "flow" and increase customer acquisition, they are competing for comprehensive financial service capabilities and efficient coordination of various businesses.
Marketing model innovations such as live broadcasting are only the first link of retail business. After attracting traffic, the comprehensive business service capabilities of each company can determine whether customers can be retained.
The person in charge of the retail business of China Guangfa Bank told reporters that the previous simple "deposit, loan, and foreign exchange" business model could no longer meet the needs of current customers. Financial institutions need to provide financial solutions that are more in line with industry characteristics and more satisfying customers' consumption habits.
Obviously, relying solely on a business unit cannot win the competition in the industry's retail transformation.
In the process of China Guangfa Bank's retail business, corporate banking and financial market businesses provide support for the retail business.
The above-mentioned person in charge said that retail business is also an extension of other businesses. Some corporate banking and financial market businesses can also reflect and improve benefits on the retail side, thereby achieving the synergy of various business sectors.
Many banks have relied on the advantages of the group in promoting business transformation.
Yu Ruzhong said that compared with other banks, the differentiated advantage of Ping An Bank's credit card lies in the comprehensive financial platform behind it, which uses group resources to tap and meet customer needs. Behind Ping An Bank is Ping An Group, which has more than 70 subsidiary financial businesses.
The transformation of Everbright Bank's retail business has coordinated with the group's travel, insurance, pension and other companies to launch a series of activities to reflect its comprehensive financial service capabilities.
China CITIC Bank President Fang Heying also publicly stated not long ago that "group synergy" is the biggest advantage of CITIC Bank.
Banks are experimenting with live broadcasts, which is a manifestation of the intensification of various retail businesses.
With the help of live marketing, banks are accelerating business transformation.
The reporter noted that, in addition to the live broadcast on the Shanrong business platform to help farmers, CCB has already made major adjustments in the direction of its retail business.
Tian Guoli, chairman of the China Construction Bank, stated at the performance conference at the beginning of this year that China Construction Bank should “bigger” the total amount in assisting rural revitalization, and cover a wide range of “agriculture, rural areas and farmers” through its products and services, and grasp the “small economy”. Great opportunity to provide innovative solutions for rural revitalization.
In the past, banks always focused on cities, and their business was mainly carried out in cities.
But now the industry believes that with the development of financial technology, business continues to sink, especially at the retail end, and the vast rural areas will inevitably become an important direction for banks' retail efforts in the future.
Compliance can be long-term
Regarding the live broadcast craze among banks and other financial institutions, there are also some hidden worries at the same time as the rapid development. Regulators have issued relevant risk warnings many times since last year.
The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issued "Reminders on Preventing Risks Related to Financial Live Broadcasting" in October last year, pointing out the compliance issues of live broadcast subjects and live broadcast content.
Subsequently, local banking and insurance regulatory bureaus also issued notices to standardize live broadcast activities.
The Consumer Insurance Bureau of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission previously reminded that compared with ordinary physical commodities, financial products are more complex, have strict risk control and investor suitability management requirements, and need to pay special attention to the compliance of live broadcasts.
Especially with regard to live wealth management products, the current supervision clarifies that commercial banks are not allowed to promote specific wealth management products through channels such as TV, radio, and the Internet, with the exception of the bank's channels (including business outlets and electronic channels).
Currently, financial live broadcasts can be roughly divided into live broadcasts carried out by financial institutions through their own platforms and live broadcasts carried out by relying on third-party live broadcast platforms.
Because the former has many regulatory requirements, many financial institutions have chosen the latter, which is to cooperate with third-party live broadcast platforms.
Judging from the current market situation, there is a chaotic situation in which financial live marketing entities are confused, and unqualified entities are "fishing eyes".
On the live broadcast platform, some people who do not have the professional quality self-packaged as "financial experts", improper interpretation and improper analogy of financial products, due to the wide audience of the live broadcast platform, users with weak financial knowledge and poor risk prevention capabilities are easily misled. Or cheating.
According to the person in charge of the relevant department of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, some unqualified entities carried out live marketing of financial products without authorization and were suspected of carrying out financial marketing and publicity activities illegally or beyond the scope.
There are even so-called "technology companies" and "consulting companies" that engage in fraud in the name of investing in virtual currency, foreign exchange, and online financial management.
In addition, some live broadcast platforms have chaotic information settings and do not clearly display the actual providers of financial products such as installments and lending. Platform users may be driven by the marketing atmosphere and impulsive consumption when the subject is unclear and the risk is unknown.
For such situations, on the one hand, the live broadcast platform needs to strengthen the scrutiny; on the other hand, consumers also need to understand that the sale of wealth management products through a third-party live broadcast platform is illegal, and they need to keep their eyes open to identify the main body of sale and whether they have relevant qualifications. .
"The chaos in the industry needs to be strengthened." Chen Wen, director of the Digital Economy Research Center of the School of Finance, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, believes that the guidance of correct financial management concepts should be strengthened, and adequate product information disclosure and risk warnings should be made to strengthen financial advertising and marketing qualifications. Review the qualifications of institutions and individuals, improve the blacklist system and establish related disciplinary mechanisms.
In addition, some banks’ live broadcast of agricultural products on their own live broadcast platforms also have consumer complaints.
Some consumers have reported that there are situations in which returns and refunds are difficult, and their rights cannot be guaranteed.
Experts suggest that banks need to continuously improve their services and improve the service quality of their own platforms.
Live broadcasting has brought new opportunities for banks. Institutions should incorporate financial live broadcasting management into risk prevention and control and protection of financial consumers’ rights and interests, and improve relevant supporting mechanisms. Only when financial live broadcasting activities are carried out legally and compliantly can this be truly and effectively grasped. Opportunities to promote business transformation and development.