I can become stronger by paying salaries. I have one billion employees!

Chapter 327 A staggering 143.9 billion yuan was amassed on the first day! Disagree? You can do it too!

October 11, 10:10 a.m., in an office building in Shanghai.

"Brother Yi, do you have the Pinbei app on your phone?"

Liu Tianle sat at his workstation and asked his colleague next to him.

"Damn it! You don't want me to cut you, do you? Hehe, no way!"

Ye Yi grinned and decisively refused.

"Is Yi a new Pinduoduo user?" Another colleague's eyes lit up, and he came over excitedly.

"Go away! If you want to bargain, find Brother Nan, he's a new user too."

Ye Yi picked up his coffee cup, took a sip, and joked.

The "Brother Nan" he mentioned is the project manager and also the boss's superior. Who would dare to voluntarily ask the general manager for a price reduction?
In his eyes, e-commerce platforms like Pinduoduo, which rely on social sharing and viral marketing to rise, are not good at all, and Taobao has too many counterfeit products, so he only chooses JD.com for online shopping.

Although the price is high, it wins in terms of good after-sales service, fast logistics, and low decision-making cost.

"Brother Yi, you've misunderstood. Do you think I'm that kind of person? Pinduoduo is currently having a promotion where you get free trial money from Yu'ebao when you place an order. I saw you were looking into Yu'ebao a few days ago, so I thought I'd let you know."

Liu Tianle explained with a smile.

Yu'ebao trial funds?

Ye Yi was slightly taken aback. His biggest hobby was managing his finances, but he only dared to deposit money in fixed deposits and did not dare to speculate in stocks or hoard gold. He was a very cautious person.

Last month, his mother suddenly fell ill and was hospitalized, urgently needing money. However, his savings were all in fixed deposits, so he had no choice but to withdraw them early, losing several thousand yuan in interest.

This made him realize that although fixed deposits have high annualized interest rates, they are too inflexible.

Later, he happened to see a promotional poster for Yu'ebao on the Lingxi browser, and after learning more about it, he became interested.

At midnight today, he deposited 10,000 yuan to test the waters and see if he could get an annualized return of 5.1%.

He also saw the promotion by Orange Pay that invited friends to open Yu'ebao accounts and gave them free trial funds, and he persuaded his family to open accounts, earning 20,000 yuan in trial funds in one go.

The estimated earnings over seven days are nearly 20 yuan, enough for three or four days' worth of breakfasts. For him, it's just a matter of moving his fingers.

When I heard that Pinduoduo Mall also had a trial credit giveaway, I was immediately tempted.

"Free gift with order? How much will be included?" Ye Yi quickly asked.

"For every purchase of 99 yuan or more, you get 5000 yuan in trial funds. I just bought a Gree 1.5P air conditioner for 2699 yuan and got 135,000 yuan in Yu'ebao trial funds, which is 132 yuan cheaper, almost a 5% discount."

Liu Tianle replied with a grin.

Pinduoduo's 10 Billion Yuan Subsidy program already offers discounted prices, and with an additional 5% off, it's incredibly cost-effective.

"Tianle, would you dare buy home appliances on Pinduoduo? Is it reliable?"

Ye Yi shook his head, thinking that while the products on Pinduoduo might be cheaper, their authenticity was not guaranteed, and their after-sales service was not as good as JD.com's.

"Brother Yi, you're so out of touch! The home appliance merchants on Pinduoduo are either factory direct or authorized brand distributors. They use the same production workshops as offline physical stores, JD.com flagship stores, and Tmall flagship stores, and the after-sales service is also handled by the official channels. Do you think they're reliable or not?"

Liu Tianle's face darkened, and he immediately became displeased.

Ye Yi's expression clearly said: Going to buy home appliances through group buying? Isn't that stupid?

In fact, he used to be a loyal user of JD.com and Yaomao, but ever since he started using Pinbei, he can never go back.

"Send me an invitation link," Ye Yi said with a dry laugh to Liu Tianle.

"Okay, I'll send it to you on WeChat!" Liu Tianle smiled lightly. Inviting a new user would earn him an 8 yuan no-threshold red envelope. Why not take advantage of this freebie?

Ye Yi took out his Galaxy Note, opened WeChat, and then opened the link sent by Liu Tianle.

First, you enter the mini-page. At the top of the screen is a shortcut button to jump to the app store, and below is a row of free items exclusively for new users, including eggs, tissues, anti-scalding clips, garbage bags, canned fruit, etc.

He ignored it and clicked the jump button, which then brought up the app store and accurately located the download page for the Pinbei APP.

One minute later, the installation was successful, and the software was launched.

The homepage is still the new user benefits section!
Looks like I have to take advantage of this opportunity!

Ye Yi smiled, clicked to enter the product details page for the eggs, entered his shipping information, and finally submitted his order.

It says it's 0 yuan, but it's not until the payment screen that it prompts you to pay 0.01 yuan. Since you have to pay, you have to link Orange Pay.

Pinbei's new user acquisition process is interconnected!
This involves increasing the user's sunk cost by including the shipping address and payment account, thus preventing the user from uninstalling the app immediately after taking advantage of the first-order discount.

After Ye Yi completed the payment, three more red envelopes immediately popped up.

A 3 yuan no-threshold red envelope, valid the next day;
A discount coupon of 50-5 is available, valid from the seventh day.

A discount coupon of 10 RMB off for purchases over a certain amount will be available starting on the fifteenth day.

This is the effective marketing tool that Pinduoduo uses to improve user retention, second-order conversion rate, and repeat purchase frequency.

Ye Yi casually closed the pop-up window.

Liu Tianle instructed from the side: "Brother Yi, click here. The products on the 10 Billion Subsidy channel are the cheapest. I bought my air conditioner there, and it was 100 yuan cheaper than the price during JD.com's 815 promotion."

"Holy crap! Really? Mr. Liu from JD.com said on Weibo that there has been zero profit margin on large appliances for three years. Anyone who dares to make a single penny will have their purchasing and sales department shut down."

Upon hearing this, Ye Yi asked in surprise.

"If you don't believe me, compare prices yourself." Liu Tianle was too lazy to waste any more words and gestured for Ye Yi to find the goods section to compare prices.

Ye Yi thought for a moment and realized that his family was short of a kettle, so he searched on the 10 billion yuan subsidy channel and found a SUPOR 1.8L electric kettle, which was priced at only 99 yuan.

But he didn't rush to place an order. Instead, he switched apps and searched for the corresponding brand and model on JD.com.

119 yuan!
Ye Yi was stunned; he hadn't expected such a large price difference between the two e-commerce platforms.

Without thinking much about it, he submitted the order and paid through Pinduoduo. This time, the pop-up window showed '5000 yuan Yu'ebao trial fund'.

Looking at the bright red and golden designs of the red envelopes, Ye Yi's lips curled up slightly, revealing a satisfied smile.

A trial fund of 5000 yuan, valid for seven days, represents a return of 4.9 yuan from Yu'ebao (Alipay's money market fund).

at the same time.

Kuaipao users who order a 20 yuan takeout meal can receive 1000 to 2000 yuan in Yu'ebao (Alipay's money market fund) trial funds. For every 100 yuan recharged into a prepaid card, they receive 5000 yuan in trial funds, up to a maximum of 20 yuan. Similarly, Kuaidi Dache passengers can receive 500 to 2000 yuan in trial funds after their trip. Existing Yu'ebao users receive a minimum of 500 yuan, while new users receive a maximum of 2000 yuan. For every 100 yuan recharged into a ride-hailing account, they receive 5000 yuan in trial funds, up to a maximum of 20 yuan, consistent with the reward caps of Pinbei and Kuaipao platforms.

On the day Yu'ebao was launched, in addition to the resources of Orange App Store, Lingxi Browser and Toutiao, Pinbei, Kuaidi Dache and Kuaidi Dache also launched co-branded activities. Even Yunsu Express couriers would hand customers a product poster when delivering packages.

Chen Yansen's operating style has always been like this.

Simple and brutal: throw money at traffic!

By 5:15 p.m., the number of users of Yu'ebao had reached 2 million, with a total fund size of 100.6 billion yuan.

"Boss, should we contact a few media outlets and publish the specific figures for the purchase funds?"

Inside Building 7 of Zhuxianzhuang Science and Technology Park, Zhang Yinjia, CEO of Orange Payment, looked at Chen Yansen and asked.

Publicly disclosing the size of Yu'ebao's funds can enhance users' trust and let them understand Yu'ebao's strength and operation. The larger the scale, the stronger the fund operation and risk resistance capabilities, which will attract more users to deposit their funds into Yu'ebao.

Secondly, it can demonstrate market position, increase industry influence, and establish cooperative relationships with more fund companies.

But there are also many downsides!
First, Yu'ebao's 'T+0' redemption method does not comply with the current management regulations of the fund market.

Secondly, Yu'ebao's 5.1% annualized yield over the past seven days is essentially competing with banks for users. If it angers the banks, they might restrict Orange Pay through policy changes.

"Send it!" Chen Yansen replied succinctly.

Banks are fully aware of where users' funds are flowing. You can't just bury your head in the sand and expect the banks to stay out of trouble.

Do it first and then talk!
The larger the amount of funds in Yu'ebao, the more wary the banks become!

If you cower and only want to hide, you might get crushed by a single finger from above.

Weakness is the original sin; I've never heard of a strong person being suppressed!
“Okay, boss,” Zhang Yinjia replied immediately.

after an hour.

Under the marketing efforts of Orange Payment, keywords such as "Yu'ebao", "100 billion yuan in funds", "national wealth management", and "5.1% current account yield" quietly became trending topics.

Number one on Toutiao's trending topics list today!

Lingxi Search is the number one trending search!

Third on Weibo's trending topics list!
Yu'ebao launches, its 5.1% 7-day annualized yield attracts attention!

Orange Pay launches Yu'ebao, with deposits starting from just 1 yuan, ushering in a new era of wealth management for everyone!

"Yu'ebao was launched on October 11th, a new attempt at cross-industry integration between finance and the internet, attracting billions of yuan in funds in less than a day!"

The comments section was very lively, with netizens leaving messages one after another.

"Finally found a way to eat free tea eggs every day, all you have to do is deposit 10,000 yuan in Yu'ebao!"

"Finally found a way to get an iPhone 5 for free! Just deposit five million yuan in Yu'ebao and you can get one every week!"

"Then let me ask you! Where can you get five million for free?"

"I put all my living expenses for the semester into Yu'ebao. It only costs a few yuan a day, which is much better than keeping it in my bank card!"

"A few dollars a day? Looks like a rich guy! V me 50 and let's see what you're capable of!"

To be honest, for the vast majority of wage earners, the tens of thousands of yuan they have usually just sit in their bank accounts gathering dust, without generating any income.

Once Yu'ebao was launched, it provided this group of people with a channel for managing small amounts of money.

As soon as users open Orange Pay, they will see the advertising slogan: "Transfer your spare change to Yu'ebao and get 14 times higher returns than current accounts."

Even college students with little money put their living expenses into Yu'ebao (Alipay's money market fund), and at least they can buy breakfast every month.

The high-profile launch of Yu'ebao has caused a stir in the industry.

Even Tianfu Fund, which partnered with Yu'ebao, was stunned when it learned that the amount of money purchased by Yu'ebao had reached 100 billion yuan.

Has internet finance succeeded?
The collision of tens of millions of traffic resources with money market funds has surprisingly created amazing results!

It's important to know that the size of domestic fund companies ranges from several billion to tens of billions of yuan. Given the development trend of Yu'ebao, it's likely that it won't even reach 1000 billion yuan.

Not only were fund industry professionals shocked, but even senior executives of major banks were shaken.

Those who rise to the top ranks of banks are no fools; they quickly realized the threat that Yu'ebao posed to their own savings products.

But they were helpless, since Orange Payment had both an electronic payment license and a fund sales qualification, making it compliant and legal.

However, some very astute individuals have discovered that Yu'ebao's use of ordinary consumer accounts to purchase fund products violates the fund sales management regulations that stipulate that "fund payment and settlement accounts must be effectively separated from other accounts."

In other words, when a third-party payment tool operates both e-commerce and fund sales payment businesses, the two types of accounts should be effectively separated, but Yu'ebao has broken through this restriction.

In addition, Kuaipao, Kuaidi Dache, and Pinbei Mall launched promotions offering free Yu'ebao trial funds for placing orders and topping up cards, which actually violated the regulation that "funds may not be sold through lotteries, rebates, or by giving away physical goods, insurance, or fund shares."

Although these three companies have no equity ties with Orange Payment, they are all owned by the same person, which naturally crosses the line.

Immediately, envious fund companies and banks jointly complained about Orange Payment's behavior to the China Banking Association and the China Fund Management Association, demanding that it rectify the situation immediately.

To their surprise, the higher-ups did not agree!
"OrangePay did violate regulations and crossed the line, but it didn't break the law. And Yu'ebao's sales are doing well. I think Chen Yansen can pave a new path for internet finance."

"It's said that Alibaba in Hangzhou is planning to launch a similar money market fund product, and they've even registered a name for it, something like 'Lingqian Tong'?"

"Tencent in Shenzhen has also set its sights on this business!"

"That's why I said, let Orange Payment do it first. Whether it's good or bad, since we can't see clearly right now, let's wait and see."

Inside the Bank of China headquarters building in Yanjing, after a discussion, several industry leaders rejected the complaint about Orange Payment.

The implication is that you can do it too!
However, we will not issue clear regulations. If you achieve good results, the bank will always provide guidance. But if you cause trouble, we will shut you down completely.

In this way, the 'T+1' fund redemption mechanism becomes meaningless. As long as prepayment is used, the regulations can be circumvented, and money market funds can be transformed into 'real-time deposit and withdrawal' demand deposit investments.

Of course, some people have also jumped out and said: "Although the returns of money market funds are stable, they also carry risks and are not as safe as bank time deposits."

But this voice was quickly drowned out.

After receiving the above response, major fund companies and banks had no choice but to consider countermeasures.

Money market funds like Yu'ebao are not something you can just start doing on a whim. First, there are policy risks, and second, they require huge user traffic. This is the root cause of their predicament.

10月11日23点59分59秒，余额宝的开通用户数轻松突破270万大关，资金规模总计143.9亿华元！
(End of this chapter)