Consumer Credit Forecast to hit 37 Trillion by 2019

EO: 混战消费金融

consumer credit market will usher in huge opportunities for development. Whether the central bank credit card, consumer finance companies, or to BAJ (Baidu, Ants Financial, Jingdong Finance) as the representative of Internet financial institutions are planning how to win a share of one trillion blue ocean market. 2016 government work report will undoubtedly aggravate the market competition.

"In the nationwide consumer finance company pilot, to encourage financial institutions to innovative consumer credit products." 2016 government work report the case statements. Market from banks is expected, by 2019 China will be the scale of consumer credit more than 37 trillion. However, market participants all, who better to win consumers?

Currency adjusted that might be more like a 50 trillion market.

China Races Ahead In Financial Innovation

Bloomberg: A Hundred Apps Bloom in China as Millions Bank on Their Phones

Financial innovation is bubbling up around the globe, but China is where digital banking, investing, and lending have gone mainstream. Technology companies armed with financial apps are challenging banks and other intermediaries for a market with 1.3 billion people and $7.8 trillion of deposits. Tencent’s WeChat (called Weixin in Chinese), Alibaba’s Alipay arm, and Baidu are leading the way with digital wallets that let consumers manage their money via their phones.

“Financial innovation is being discussed everywhere—in New York, London, San Francisco, Hong Kong,” says Zennon Kapron, managing director of Shanghai-based consulting firm Kapronasia. “But mainland China is where it has gone beyond talk and is really having an impact. What we’re seeing here is the future of global banking.”

...Song Fuqiang, who lives about 370 kilometers (230 miles) from Beijing in Hebei province, owns a textile business and uses Alipay every day. The 31-year-old has even put about 40,000 yuan into Alibaba’s money market fund, Yu’E Bao. “Checks are so outdated, so few people use them,” he says. “I don’t bring money when I go out. I use Alipay to pay for everything.”

The irony is China is probably the least friendly to banking competitors because the industry in mainly state-owned. While these firms may do well, the government will tilt the playing field in favor of the SOEs.

NYT: Disney, Time Warner and Other Media Shares Fall as Investors Worry About TV’s Future

China mircoblog wars

In China, competing Twitter-like services are known as 微薄 (wéibó), which literally translates as micro blog. A Twitter knockoff named Fanfou (饭否) was shut down during the Xinjiang riots last year and to the best of my knowledge, it lost its first-mover advantage. Sina (SINA) appears to have taken the lead, with 56% of the microblog market. It's service was running off of its Sina.com domain, but this week it launched Weibo.com to give the service its own identity.

Tencent (0700.HK) has also stepped into the market though, and it is a heavy hitter. It's QQ messaging service is a monster, with over 600 million registered users and concurrent users peaking at over 100 million. It also offers music, streaming TV and movies, games and more through the platform. It also has social networking services and has now added microblogs. Tencent basically offers everything you can imagine and more, although it seems many of the components are not most popular.

Tencent isn't the only competitor. NetEase (NTES), Sohu (SOHU) and Baidu (BIDU) are among those looking to take market share. One battle tactic is the capture of celebrity microblogs, who attract millions of followers.
China’s Microblogging Celebs Blow Past Western Stars
Rumor: Baidu to Overhaul Microblog Platform, Poach Celebrities

Here is an in-depth Chinese article covering the topic: 微博之战——争夺中国人的“意见”与“关系”