There were fewer than 400 small loan companies in 9 months, and continued to "prepare food" under strong supervision

　　Under the pressure of regulation and competition, the number of small loan companies in the country has been further reduced.

　　According to the latest data released by the central bank, as of the end of the third quarter of this year, the number of small loan companies nationwide was 6,054, a decrease of nearly 400 from the end of last year, and the loan balance also decreased by 34.7 billion yuan.

Compared with the peak period of 8,951 in 2015, the number of small loan companies has decreased by about 2,900.

　　Behind the decline in quantity is the continuous efforts to improve quality and reduce quantity across the country and across the country.

Against the background of tightening supervision and intensified competition in the stock market, both online micro-loan companies and traditional micro-loan companies are experiencing a wave of cancellations and capital increases.

It is generally believed in the industry that the industry pattern of small loan companies will continue to be reshaped in the future.

A sharp drop of 2,900

　　From the data point of view, the change in the number of small loan companies in the third quarter of this year has narrowed compared with the first half of the year. The latest data is 6,054, a decrease of 96 compared with the first half of the year, but a decrease of 399 compared with the end of last year, and the number of employees has also dropped further. to about 58,500 people.

In terms of loan balance, as of the end of September this year, the national micro-loan balance was about 907.6 billion yuan, a decrease of 34.7 billion yuan in the first three quarters.

　　The number of small loan companies has been shrinking for years.

Looking back at the peak period in 2015, there were 8,951 micro-loan companies nationwide, with a corresponding loan scale of about 959.4 billion yuan and more than 114,000 employees.

This also means that in the past seven years, the number of small loan companies in the country has dropped sharply by 2,897, and the number of employees has decreased by 55,500, almost halved.

　　From the perspective of definition and supervision scope, my country's micro-loan companies, as enterprises that do not take public deposits and operate micro-loan business, have been piloted since 2005, and have been clearly defined in the guidance issued by the supervision in 2008. Since then, they have been regulated by local financial institutions. Departmental approval and supervision are important supplements for serving small and micro enterprises and “agriculture, rural areas and farmers” in the context of inclusive finance.

　　However, since 2017, due to the spread of Internet loan risks, the supervision began to rectify the Internet finance industry, including the small loan industry.

Regarding the reasons for the continuous decline in the number of small loan companies, Zeng Gang, director of the Shanghai Finance and Development Laboratory, told reporters that because of the differences in positioning and access thresholds from traditional financial institutions, small loan companies have experienced a stage of rapid development and expansion. However, with the increasingly fierce competition, the competition from banks and some consumer finance companies for business sinking, the squeeze of the Internet small loan model is more obvious, and the cost of customer acquisition, loan interest rates and capital sources of small loan companies are not high. With advantages, small loan companies that can only serve local businesses will inevitably fall into business difficulties.

　　From the perspective of regional distribution, due to some historical special reasons, Chongqing has always been an important development "territory" of my country's small loan business. Although the scale has also declined, as of the end of the third quarter of this year, the balance of small loans in this place continued to be 237.586 billion yuan. It is far ahead, and it is also the only province (municipality/autonomous region) in the country with a small loan amount exceeding 100 billion yuan.

Based on this calculation, the balance of small loans in Chongqing accounted for 26.18% of the national total.

　　Among the changes in the first three quarters of this year, Xinjiang, Anhui, and Liaoning are the regions with the largest decrease in the number of small loan companies. The three have decreased by 98, 47, and 45 respectively compared with the end of last year. The latest data are 121, 279, and 332. The corresponding loan balances were 7.856 billion yuan, 35.511 billion yuan and 23.75 billion yuan.

Double pressure

　　According to different business channels and methods, small loan companies are generally divided into traditional small loan companies and Internet small loan companies.

Under the continuous tightening of regulations and fierce competition, the two are facing different pressures.

　　For traditional small loan companies, an important manifestation is that in recent years, the frequency of revoking business qualifications or pilot qualifications has increased significantly.

Just on October 24, Dalian Financial Development Bureau found that six micro-loan companies had serious violations of "lost contact" in the city-wide supervision and rating work for micro-loan companies in 2021. Therefore, according to the "China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission" The General Office's Notice on Strengthening the Supervision and Administration of Small Loan Companies and the Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Small Loan Companies in Dalian City plan to cancel the business qualifications of 6 small loan companies.

　　Earlier in August, the Jiangxi Provincial Local Financial Supervision Bureau issued a number of announcements, announcing the cancellation of the small loan pilot qualifications of 8 small loan companies and no longer included in the scope of industry supervision.

In addition, since the beginning of this year, many local financial supervision and administration bureaus in Anhui, Jiangsu, Inner Mongolia, Henan have successively disclosed the list of the pilot operation qualifications of some small loan companies.

　　In the list of these canceled pilots, there are also small loan companies that operate online microloans.

Just in June this year, the news that the Beijing Financial Supervision Bureau agreed to cancel the qualification of JD.com's Jinghui small loan pilot program attracted industry attention. At that time, JD.com responded to reporters that the company was integrating local financial licenses of the same type under the guidance of regulatory authorities, and small loans The main body of the company license will eventually retain only one.

　　Previously, in November 2020, the "Interim Measures for the Administration of Online Micro-loan Business (Draft for Comment)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Interim Measures") jointly issued by the Central Bank and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission stipulated that major shareholders participate in the operation of network small businesses across provincial administrative regions. The number of small loan companies that engage in the loan business shall not exceed 2, and the number of holding companies shall not exceed 1.

　　The reporter noticed that this integration plan of Jingdong Technology has recently made new progress.

The National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System shows that the filing of the articles of association of Chongqing Jingdong Tongying Small Loan Co., Ltd. was changed on October 24, and the name has also been changed to Chongqing Jingdong Tongying Business Information Consulting Co., Ltd., and its business scope has also changed from “Development of various Loans, bill discounting, asset transfer, equity investment with its own funds" was changed to "enterprise management consulting; information consulting services (excluding licensing information consulting services); bill information consulting services; social and economic consulting services."

　　With the addition of a small loan company in Shanghai previously cancelled by JD.com, there is only one small loan company license left under JD.com.

In addition to JD.com, Internet platforms such as Duxiaoman and Ctrip also have similar integration actions.

　　In early October of this year, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission's reply on the People's Daily Online "Leadership Message Board" about "comprehensively suspending the establishment of new online microfinance institutions" attracted widespread attention.

Although this statement is not the first time, Dong Ximiao, chief researcher of China Merchants Union Finance, told reporters that it also shows that before the "Interim Measures" is officially issued, the supervision of small loan companies in the online small loan business still maintains strong supervision and strict supervision. , which will help reduce the regulatory arbitrage behavior of small loan companies, maintain a fair market competition order, and better protect the legitimate rights and interests of financial consumers.

Online small loans continue to "prepare food"

　　In fact, since the "Interim Measures" began to solicit opinions, the online loan business has generally entered a period of rectification. Especially under the requirements of several key terms, while accelerating the integration of Internet small loan companies, a wave of capital increase has been set off.

　　According to the new regulations, the premise of small loan companies operating online small loan business is that the registered capital is not less than 1 billion yuan, and the cross-regional online small loan business must be not less than 5 billion yuan, and both are one-time paid-in currencies. capital.

In terms of external financing, the document requires that the balance of non-standardized financing such as bank loans and shareholder loans of small loan companies operating online small loan business shall not exceed 1 times their net assets, and the balance of standardized debt financing such as bond issuance and asset securitization products. Must not exceed 4 times their net worth.

　　In this context, in order to provide a foundation for further "expanding the territory", online small loan companies have begun to increase capital through multiple channels.

At present, the small loan institutions that have increased their capital to more than 5 billion yuan mainly come from leading Internet companies such as Ant, Tencent, Meituan, JD.com, Du Xiaoman, Suning, 360 Digits, and ByteDance. Among them, Ant Small and Micro Loans are limited. The company's registered capital reached 12 billion yuan as early as 2019.

　　In terms of financing, under the threshold of bond issuance and bank borrowing, an important financing channel for online small loan companies is the issuance of ABS (asset-backed securities), especially the small loan companies under the leading Internet platforms.

According to the reporter's incomplete statistics, since the beginning of this year, some small loan companies such as Meituan, JD.com, and Du Xiaoman have successfully issued multiple ABSs, with a combined scale of nearly 40 billion yuan. In addition, small loan companies under Tencent, Ctrip, 360 and other platforms also have In the process of ABS application or feedback, traditional small loan companies also have issuance records that are constantly updated.

　　From the perspective of the industry, small loan companies, as an important supplementary force for serving small and micro enterprises and agriculture, rural areas and farmers, will inevitably further strengthen the trend of standardized development in the future.

The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China made it clear in the section on building a high-level socialist market economic system that it is necessary to build a modern central bank system, strengthen and improve modern financial supervision, strengthen the financial stability guarantee system, and legally incorporate all types of financial activities into supervision. Sexual Risk Bottom Line.

　　Xiao Yuanqi, vice chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, further stated at the "Hong Kong Fintech Week 2022" a few days ago that it is necessary to adhere to the principle that financial business must be licensed, bring all financial activities into financial supervision, and continue to improve and revise existing financial supervision regulations. Special prudential supervision rules were formulated and issued in a timely manner for financial technology activities.

　　Dong Ximiao believes that in the context of stricter supervision, online small loan practitioners must further strengthen compliance operations, control business risks and financing leverage ratios, maintain interest rates at a reasonable level, and better serve the long-tail market and long-tail customers. Better protection of the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.