Since the end of last year, P2P and small loan companies with online loan licenses have been undergoing rectification and governance, but financial intermediaries are still outside the supervision. Is online lending an important assistant of inclusive finance or a variant of usury in the Internet age?
Step one: into the pit.
"Understand the credit loan, no mortgage, the amount is 200,000 yuan, the loan will be released on the same day, and the monthly interest rate will be 6% ..."
Many people have received similar loan calls, and the other party often speaks very fast. They have finished the main information before you hang up.
The quick-witted person calculated that the annual interest rate of this loan is 7.2%, which is similar to that of a bank credit loan, and the procedure is very simple, even without checking the credit information. It is normal for people who are short of money to talk more. After all, who doesn't need money Within reach.
However, after reaching out for the first time, many people find it difficult to turn back.
The borrower Wang Sufen (pseudonym) is experiencing an installment loan that cannot be settled. Four years ago, she borrowed 6.5438+0.4 million yuan from a loan company and opened a clothing store. Due to poor management, her capital soon ran out. A few days before each installment repayment date, SMS, telephone and WeChat will remind her to repay on time, otherwise the credit will be difficult to guarantee. Because there was no source of income, she began to raise loans by loans, but she never thought it was a point of no return.
In the past four years, she has been opening eight "mouths"-in the jargon of the lending industry, she borrowed money from eight platforms to support loans, with a total of 760,000 yuan, and the accumulated principal and interest was 6.5438+0.09 million yuan. The principal of 6.5438+0.4 million yuan four years ago has now rolled into a debt of about 500,000 yuan.
I checked Wang Sufen's contract and found that she signed a loan contract with small loan companies, such as Shenhemei, Yaliancai and Haosen; There is also P2P；; More are loan intermediaries, who help Wang Sufen get loans from microfinance companies, P2P and banks. Another kind of company is the most amazing. They promise to help Wang Sufen match P2P, online small loans and loans from specific borrowers in the contract. Wang Sufen, who knew nothing about finance, had no idea where the money came from before reading the contract, and thought that the intermediary was the investor.
Step 2: Fill the pit
At first, Wang Sufen had no concept of interest, and saw that there were only a few hundred to several thousand pieces in installments every month, and he didn't feel the pressure. But when she found that her debt was increasing, she felt something was wrong.
In the contracts signed between Wang Sufen and lending institutions, the annualized interest calculated by multiplying the monthly interest rate by 12 is between 7.56% and 23.64%, which seems to be within the normal range according to private lending standards. In terms of repayment methods, most of these lending institutions have given corresponding calculation formulas in the contract, which seems very transparent.
For Wang Sufen, who lacks the basic knowledge of finance, the calculation process is not important, as long as he can get the money quickly, and then pay it back every month according to the installment repayment figures filled in the contract by the customer service of the loan company. As we all know, the actual borrowing cost borne by the borrower is much higher than the nominal interest rate, which is why Wang Sufen has more money.
Take the loan of platform L as an example. The loan amount of Wang Sufen is 6,543,800 yuan+0.3 million yuan, and the annualized interest of the contract is 8.4%, which will be repaid in 36 installments. If calculated according to the nominal interest rate, the monthly installment calculated by the equivalent principal and interest calculator should be 4097.76 yuan. However, the actual monthly repayment amount paid by Wang Sufen is 6 177.76 yuan.
The difference between the monthly repayment at the nominal interest rate and the actual repayment is 2080 yuan. The bill shows that this is a "service fee". However, Wang Su Powder doesn't have an expense contract of 2080 yuan. After calling the customer service, she was explained that this is the platform service fee and the insurance premium for purchasing repayment performance liability insurance. Because the monthly repayment amount is generated after the principal and interest payable plus the monthly expenses, it is 665,438 yuan +077.76 yuan.
In addition to various expenses, there are also interest-bearing methods that affect monthly payments. Bank credit loans generally use average capital or equal principal and interest to calculate the installment repayment amount, but in small loan and online loan companies, the algorithm of equal interest is generally adopted.
Among the three calculation methods of average capital, equal principal and interest and equal interest, the last one has the highest interest.
The so-called "equal principal and interest" means repayment in each installment = (loan principal x loan monthly interest rate x loan installment+loan principal)/loan installment. The reason why this algorithm invisibly produces high interest rate is because it does not consider the principal part that has been repaid in installments, but always charges interest on the initial loan principal (the same is true for the charge of handling fees), which leads to the soaring actual borrowing cost in the later period and the average annualized interest rate is higher than other calculation methods.
For example, if the loan is RMB 6,543,800+,and the monthly comprehensive cost rate is 2.3%, it will be repaid in 12 installments, and the borrower's actual interest rate last month = (10x2.3%)/(12) = 27.6%, which is converted.
Easy-to-get peer-to-peer lending has solved the problem of "a penny stumbles a hero", but many people are stumped by the interest of this penny.
In the past four years, Wang Sufen has unconsciously been burdened with high interest rates. In order to repay the initial loan of 6,543.8+0.4 million, she borrowed 760,000 yuan from 8 platforms, repaid the principal and interest of 6,543.8+0.9 million yuan and accumulated interest of 330,000 yuan.
Step 3: Loan.
After Wang Sufen first came into contact with microfinance, the loan phone came in like a hotline.
"At that time, I felt that I could borrow money as long as I reached out." Wang Sufen recalled.
In the credit information system of China People's Bank, Wang Sufen has more than 20 overdue credit cards, and applied for loans from microfinance companies for more than 10 times, but this does not affect the loan companies to promote loans to her. "Do these companies have the risk control measures they say?" I don't know Wang Su powder myself. Now she can still receive four or five loan calls every day on her mobile phone.
The result of loan competition is the "innovation" of online lending platform in business. I saw from a publicity material called "Peer Loan" that as long as the loan is borrowed from peers, the loan date is less than 3 months from this application, and the conditions such as no overdue are met, the company can help customers borrow from 20 consumer finance companies, with a monthly interest rate of 0.99%- 1.28%.
In the past year or two, with the increase of loans in Wang Sufen, money began to be difficult to borrow. Some employees of a microfinance company helped her with an idea: as long as she paid the handling fee, she could help Wang Sufen borrow money on another platform.
/kloc-Notice on Standardizing and Rectifying Cash Loan Business (No.14 1) issued in June/July requires that all institutions shall abide by the principle of "know your customer" and shall not induce borrowers to borrow excessively and fall into debt trap in any way; No loans may be issued to borrowers without income sources; All kinds of institutions should adhere to the principle of prudent operation and comprehensively consider the possible impact of factors such as lack of credit records, long-term lending and fraud on loan quality.
But in practice, "know your customers" has also become an opportunity for some employees to make profits. Some employees of small loan companies, because they understand the risk control rules and loopholes of each platform, recommend customers who are in urgent need of money or can't afford loans to other platforms, and collect referral fees from them.
Step 4: Go ashore now.
On February 8, last year, 65,438+,the former Online Loan Remediation Office of the China Banking Regulatory Commission issued the Notice on Printing and Distributing the Implementation Plan for the Special Remediation of Online Microfinance Business Risks of Microfinance Companies (No.56 Document), which pointed out that the ratio of all loan fees and loan principal collected by borrowers in the form of interest rates and various fees should be calculated as the comprehensive real interest rate and converted into annualized form, which should comply with the provisions of the Supreme People's Court on private lending.
Lawyer Xiong Yong, a partner of Guangdong Huashang Law Firm, told me that according to Article 26 of the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in the Trial of Private Lending Cases, if the middle-aged interest rate in the legal relationship of private lending is below 24%, it will be protected by law; The online loan interest rate exceeds 24%, which is not protected by law; More than 36% of contracts are considered invalid.
According to the definition of "comprehensive real interest rate" in No.56 document, it should include the actual borrowing costs such as interest, handling fee and insurance premium. Wang Sufen's loan on the above platform was RMB 6,543,800+RMB 3,000, which was received after withholding the initial fee of RMB 3,900. Based on the actual monthly payment of 6.65438+0.77 million yuan, the comprehensive real interest rate is annualized to 465.438+0.5%.
It is not uncommon for the actual borrowing cost to be much higher than the nominal interest rate. The monthly interest paid by Wang Sufen in eight lending institutions, plus various fees, is calculated according to the method of equal principal and interest, each of which exceeds 36%.
In addition to the comprehensive interest rate exceeding the relevant provisions of the Supreme Court, these platforms also have behaviors such as "beheading interest" (withholding interest), handling fees, and deposits, which is also the case that the online loan rectification office put forward a strict investigation in the No.56 document.
Circular 56 requires that local working groups should report the thorough investigation to the online loan rectification office at the end of this year 1, and the classified disposal of various institutions should be completed in March this year.
"Since last year, the regulatory authorities have investigated and rectified online small loans and P2P precisely to cope with these chaos. An online loan industry observer believes that this situation in Wang Sufen belongs to the scope of rectification and clean-up.
In my opinion, according to the provisions of the Supreme Law on private lending, more than 24% is not protected by law, and more than 36% is invalid, but it does not mean that it cannot be implemented, depending on the wishes of both parties to the contract. At present, online lending faces strict supervision, and some practices of small loan companies may be illegal, but they are not.
The drums of online loan rectification are ringing, and Wang Sufen seems to see the dawn of landing.
The nominal interest of peer-to-peer lending is generally not high. For example, Qianhai Jixin Internet financial service is funded by Hangzhou Bank, and the contract monthly interest rate is 0.63%, and the interest rate calculated according to the loan balance is only 7.56%. However, with the one-time handling fee of 2% of the loan principal and the monthly management fee (or consulting fee) of 2.3% of the loan principal, the comprehensive real annualized interest rate of these projects exceeds 45%.
Step 5: How are these intermediate expenses generated and to whom?
Under normal circumstances, the loan contract on P2P platform involves four roles: the borrower, the online lending platform (P2P), the lender (usually an individual) and the insurance company, and the intermediate fee will be paid to the online lending platform and the insurance company.
In other online microfinance businesses, the contract usually involves three roles, namely, the borrower, XX Jin Fu (financial intermediary or loan assistant) and the lender (individual, small loan company, consumer finance company or bank), and the intermediate fee is paid to the financial intermediary that can attract customers.
In the third case, the loan activity consists of a series of contracts. In addition to borrowers and lenders, financial intermediaries complete business matching by docking other intermediaries, P2P or specific lenders. In this case, there will be more links for charging.
In the above three modes, intermediary companies all play an important role. The first model is based on P2P platform, with sufficient information disclosure and regulatory filing, and transparency and compliance is the development trend; However, the face of the intermediary between the second and third modes is very vague.
These intermediary companies either only talk about nominal interest in telemarketing and do not disclose the actual annualized interest rate as required by the state; Or the mode of "nominal interest+consulting fee or management fee" is adopted when signing the contract, which leads most people to borrow money without knowing it and bear high costs; Or form a principal-agent relationship with banks and P2P. And become a second-hand dealer of funds.
The name of such intermediaries often carries the word "financial services", and the business scope is often entrusted by financial institutions to engage in financial information technology outsourcing business, providing financial intermediary services, information consulting and so on. They are third-party outsourcing companies serving financial institutions, and they do not need a license to operate, so it is difficult to be included in financial supervision.
"This kind of consulting company is not within our supervision scope, and there are not many ways to restrain them in the existing supervision methods." A person from the online loan supervision department who did not want to be named said.
At present, Internet finance is in a period of rectification, and P2P platform is also regulated by filing. Small loan companies and internet small loans are subject to stricter license management, but for financial intermediaries, there is no specific supervision except industrial and commercial administration and advertising law.
However, documents no. 14 1 and No.56 issued on June 5438+February last year have covered the supervision of such service intermediaries, such as checking whether third-party institutions charge interest fees to borrowers. It remains to be seen whether such financial service companies will face stricter supervision in the future.
Step 6: Appeal
Lawyer Xiong Yong told me that according to the Supreme Law, in private lending, if the interest rate agreed by both parties exceeds the annual interest rate of 36%, the excess interest agreement is invalid; The people's court shall support the borrower's request to the lender to return the interest paid in excess of 36% per annum.
With the support of relatives and friends, Wang Sufen began to recover the overcharged interest from various online lending platforms one by one.
1, through communication with Platform L, the other party agrees to waive the 400 yuan fee of 2,080 yuan per month, and the annualized interest rate after the fee exemption is just within 36%.
2. Under the coordination of the Municipal Finance Office, two small loan companies, Haosen and Yaliancai, agreed that Wang Sufen would settle the contract at an annualized rate of 36% and settle the loan on May 3 1 2065438.
The other five platforms are still communicating.
At present, online lending is in a critical period of clean-up and rectification, and the willingness of all platforms to resolve disputes is strong. This background has accelerated the spread of Wang Sufen.
Of course, the communication with online lending companies is not smooth sailing, and some platforms are unmoved. The calculation is not accurate, and the strategic and reasonable requirements will not be answered. The policy of these platforms to borrowers is "don't sue and ignore".
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From an ordinary peer-to-peer lender, Wang Sufen embarked on the road of supporting loans with loans. In addition to her lack of self-control and risk awareness, she is also a victim of unscrupulous online lending companies' mercenary and unscrupulous promotion.
If this chaos is not contained, it will breed social threats and financial risks. The supervision of cash loans and online loans continues, curbing the chaos of abnormally high interest rates on online loans. A friend from an online lending circle in Shenzhen told online lending that the lending rate in the online lending market has begun to decline this year.