definition
The so-called online finance, also known as e-finance, refers to the financial activities realized on the Internet based on the achievements of financial electronicization, including online financial institutions, online financial transactions, online financial markets and online financial supervision. In a narrow sense, it refers to the financial services carried out on the Internet, including online banking, online securities, online insurance and other financial services and related content; Network finance in a broad sense is the general name of all financial activities in the world supported by network technology, including not only narrow content, but also network financial security, network financial supervision and many other aspects. . It is different from traditional financial activities in physical form, and it is a financial activity in electronic space. Its existence form is virtualized and its operation mode is networked. It is the product of the rapid development of information technology, especially internet technology, and it is the product of adapting to e-commerce (e-
Commerce) the financial operation mode in the network era.
Characteristic business innovation
The customer-centered nature of online finance determines its innovative characteristics. In order to meet the needs of customers, expand market share and enhance competitive strength, online finance must carry out business innovation. This kind of innovation is taking place in various fields of finance, for example, in the field of credit business, banks use the Search engine on the Internet (search
Engine) software to provide customers with consumer credit, house mortgage credit, credit card credit and automobile consumer credit services suitable for their personal needs; In the field of payment business, the emerging electronic bill of exchange presents payment business.
(EBPP, electronic bill reminder
Manage all kinds of bills (insurance bills, bills, mortgage bills, credit card bills, etc.). ) by integrating information systems. In the capital market, Electronic communication network (ECNs).
connect
Networks) provides a platform for market participants to exchange information and conduct financial transactions directly through computer networks. With ECNs, buyers and sellers can communicate with each other through computers to find the object of transaction, thus effectively eliminating traditional financial intermediaries such as brokers and dealers and greatly reducing transaction costs.
management innovation
Management innovation includes two aspects: on the one hand, financial institutions give up the strategic management idea of relying on the strength of a single institution to expand their business in the past, and pay full attention to business cooperation with other financial institutions, information technology service providers, information service providers, e-commerce websites and so on. In order to achieve a win-win situation in the market competition. On the other hand, the internal management of online financial institutions tends to be networked, and the vertical bureaucratic management mode under the traditional business model will be replaced by the networked flat organizational structure.
Market innovation
Due to the rapid development of network technology, the financial market itself has also begun to innovate. On the one hand, in order to meet the needs of customers' global transactions and the new competitive pattern in the online world, financial markets began to integrate internationally, such as the merger of London Stock Exchange and Frankfurt Stock Exchange in April 2000. On the other hand, under the pressure of competition, some stock exchanges are making strategies to transform into listed companies, because as publicly listed companies, exchanges will be able to use equity funds to establish strategic partnerships and alliances with other exchanges, issuers, investors and market participants in a more creative way.
Regulatory innovation
Due to the development of information technology, online financial supervision has two characteristics: on the one hand, the traditional financial supervision policy of separating operations and preventing monopoly in the past has been replaced by a new model of market opening, business integration and organization collectivization. On the other hand, with the increasing cross-border financial transactions on the Internet, a country's financial supervision department has been unable to completely control its own financial market activities. Therefore, international financial supervision cooperation has become a new feature of supervision in the era of network finance.
danger
In a sense, the rise of network finance makes the financial industry more fragile, and the risks brought by network finance can be roughly divided into two categories: technical risks brought by network information technology and economic risks brought by the business characteristics of network finance.
The first is liquidity risk. near
In recent years, products of "third-party payment plus fund" have emerged continuously, such as Yu 'ebao, but there are also risks such as maturity mismatch, currency market fluctuation and large-scale redemption by investors.
The second is credit risk. Because the online behavior of "brushing credit" and "changing evaluation" still exists, the authenticity and reliability of network data will be affected. In addition, the departmental internet platform lacks long-term data accumulation, and the scientific nature of the risk measurement model needs to be verified. Therefore, in the field of Internet finance, information asymmetry still exists. In 20 13, there were more than 350 active P2P platforms, and the annual cumulative transaction volume exceeded 60 billion yuan. However, some platforms have run away.
Third, reputation risk. Some Internet organizations use the so-called "expected high returns" to attract consumers and launch products with high returns but risks, but they do not reveal the risks truthfully and even mislead consumers.
The fourth is the risk of information leakage. Yan Qingmin said that a major foundation of Internet finance is data mining and analysis based on big data to analyze customer behavior, but it also poses a huge challenge to the protection of customer information and transaction records. Some trading platforms have not established a perfect mechanism to protect customer information.
Fifth, technical security risks, that is, IT system security risks. Because internet finance relies on computer networks, the defects of the network system itself, management loopholes, computer viruses, hacker attacks and so on. Will cause technical security risks.
To sum up, there is no essential difference between the economic risks of network finance and traditional finance, but because network finance is based on network information technology, it broadens the connotation and manifestations of traditional financial risks:
1. The security hidden trouble of network financial technical support system becomes the basic risk of network finance;
2. Network finance has a special risk form of technology choice;
3. Because of the fast transmission speed of network information, it is not limited by time and space, and network finance will amplify the traditional financial risks in the degree of occurrence and scope of action.
existing problems
1. Low management level
First, there is no pure online financial institution, and the existing online business is not large. The existence of pure online financial institutions is one of the criteria to judge the development level of online finance in a country. There are no pure online financial institutions in China, and online services are mostly provided through financial institutions' own websites and webpages. The business scale is limited, the income level is low, and it is basically at a loss;
Second, the online financial business has obvious primary characteristics. Most of China's online financial products and services simply "move" the traditional business online, and regard the network as a sales method or channel, ignoring the innovation potential of online financial products and services;
Third, the development of online finance is unbalanced. The networking degree of banks and securities industry is much higher than that of insurance and trust industry. This structural imbalance not only affects the overall promotion of online finance, but also may affect the stability and healthy development of online finance.
2. There is no effective unified planning.
Due to the lack of macro-planning in the development of online finance in China, financial institutions not only go their own way in the selection of development mode, investment in electronic equipment, network construction, etc., but also keep secrets and defend each other, resulting in the waste of information, technology and funds and the deformity of internal structure, which is not only unfavorable to the development of online finance, but also may bury unstable factors in the financial industry.
3. Lagging legislation
First, compared with developed countries in market economy, China's online finance legislation lags behind. In the 1990s, the United States promulgated the Digital Signature Law and the Uniform Electronic Transaction Law, which solved the legal problems of electronic signature and electronic payment. The Electronic Communication Law, which came into effect in May 2000, also confirmed the legal status of electronic signatures and electronic certificates, clearing the way for the development of online finance. There are few such laws in China, only the Interim Measures for the Administration of Online Securities Entrusting, the Examination and Approval Procedures for Online Entrusting Business of Securities Companies, and the Provisions on Encouraging the Use of the Internet for Trading, and only a few online securities businesses are involved. It was not until July 9, 20001year that the People's Bank of China promulgated the Interim Measures for the Administration of Online Banking. The regulations of this department are too simple, with few quantitative standards and poor operability.
Second, compared with the sound legal system of traditional financial business, the legislation of network finance is relatively backward. In the face of the development of network finance and the arrival of e-money era, it is necessary to further study, revise and improve the current financial legislative framework, and appropriately adjust the existing supervision methods of the financial industry, so as to play its supervisory and protective role and promote the positive and steady development of network finance.
4. Lack of patent awareness
With foreign financial institutions entering the competition of online finance in China, the weakness of China financial institutions is emerging, which is not only a technical problem, but also an awareness problem. Since 1996, Citibank has applied for 19 "business method" invention patents from China National Patent Office, most of which are financial services and systematic methods that are in line with the development of emerging network technology or electronic technology. The purpose is to control the core technology of e-banking and establish the leading position of online banking. Although China has not approved any patents it applied for, according to the principle of "priority in patent application and priority in authorization", once China has passed relevant laws to allow such patents to be applied for, banks in China will face difficulties in entering some markets, either paying higher patent fees, or being forced to withdraw, or even having to pay fines. Even if China does not authorize such patents, banks in China will have to face the patent barriers of Citigroup when they enter the United States or other international markets. As of 200 1, among 64 American patents obtained by Citibank, business method patents related to online banking accounted for 2/3. However, financial institutions in China do not have the concept of patent protection for financial products, let alone formulate relevant patent strategies.
5. Institutional obstacles are not conducive to deepening development.
The strict separate operation system implemented in China may reduce the risk of the whole system, but financial institutions can't disperse their own risks through diversified operation. The separate operation system has divided the business scope of various industries of online finance from the beginning, weakened its development potential, and affected or even inhibited the evolution of online finance in China. In addition, financial consumers can not enjoy all-round financial services brought by "online financial supermarket", which also causes great losses in the effectiveness of online finance.
Internet Finance Corporate Social Responsibility Self-discipline Alliance, recently hosted by Xinhuanet, "Outlook 20 15? The annual summit on corporate social responsibility of Internet finance was announced, and the white paper on corporate social responsibility report of Internet finance was released.
At present, with the development of big data, cloud computing, social networks and communication technologies, the innovation and development of Internet finance in China presents a diversified trend. The healthy development of Internet finance requires not only innovation, but also supervision and self-discipline. In order to guide Internet finance enterprises to effectively fulfill their corporate social responsibilities, the project "Self-discipline Alliance of Internet Finance Enterprises' Social Responsibility and White Paper on Internet Finance Enterprises' Social Responsibility Report" was launched at the summit. And released "20 14 ranking of public opinion attention of internet finance network" and "20 14 survey report on user experience satisfaction of internet finance online platform".
Countermeasures
1. Establish the strategy of parallel development of traditional finance and network finance.
2. Establish special guidance and management institutions.
3. Accelerate the legislation of online finance.
4. Cultivate compound financial talents.
5. Reform the separate management system.