应对互联网金融中国传统银行发起反击_BEC初级作文

应对互联网金融中国传统银行发起反击

As China gradually moves to liberalize deposit interest rates, banks will be forced to compete among themselves to attract customers, which means offering higher yields.

The development of new deposit-like money market products designed to compete with online rivals will further accelerate the trend toward higher funding costs.

"It's going to negatively affect bank margins. Costs will go up," said May Yan, Asia ex-Japan banks analyst at Barclays Capital in Hong Kong.

CASH ON DEMAND

Chinese savers in recent years have flocked to so-called wealth management products (WMPs) that banks market as a higher-yielding alternative to traditional savings deposits, which remain subject to a cap of 3.3 percent for one-year savings.

Alibaba super-charged the switch away from traditional deposits last June when it launched Yu'e Bao in partnership with Tianhong Asset Management Co Ltd, in which it owns a 51 percent stake. The product is currently yielding 6.2 percent.

Beyond the attractive yield, several innovations allowed Yu'e Bao and other online money-market funds to draw funds away from bank deposits and offline WMPs. Unlike most bank WMPs, the Yu'e Bao fund allows investors to redeem shares for cash at any time, rather than locking up their funds for months at a time. Yu'e Bao also requires no minimum threshold to buy in.

The product's seamless integration with Alibaba's widely used third-party payments platform, Alipay, also makes buying into the product simple and convenient.