人人贷:网络借贷安全否?

There are 4,144 microcredit companies in China, a sevenfold rise over four years, and their total lending increased 87 per cent last year to Rmb369bn, according to government data. While many are bricks-and-mortar institutions, from pawn shops to trust companies, Taobao, the Chinese rival to Ebay, has demonstrated in the retail industry that online businesses can flourish because the internet reaches vast areas still untouched by big brands.

根据政府公布的数据，中国目前有4144家小额信贷公司，这一数字在4年间增加了7倍，其贷款总额去年增长87%，达到3690亿元人民币。尽管许多都是线下实体店（从典当公司，到信托公司），但Ebay的中国对手——淘宝(Taobao)在零售业的表现证明，依托于网络的企业是可以取得长足发展的，因为互联网能够触及大品牌尚未触及的广阔天地。

The first P2P lending website was launched five years ago and Mr Ying estimates that there are at least 100 now. CreditEase says it alone has about 100,000 borrowers and that its loan book has been increasing 50-100 per cent year-on-year.

第一家人人贷网站创建于5年前，而霍中皓估计，如今至少有100家这样的网站。宜信表示，单是它一家公司就拥有约10万名借款人，其贷款账目同比增长了50%-100%。

"It's because people really need help and are not covered by the traditional banking system," says Tang Ning, chief executive of CreditEase.

宜信首席执行官唐宁谈到，“这是因为人们真的需要帮助，而他们又无法从传统的银行业体系获得帮助。”

P2P lending has also grown rapidly in the US and Europe since its start in 2005 — especially since the global financial crisis when battered banks cut their lending to small borrowers.

自2005年出现人人贷以来，这种贷款模式在美国和欧洲同样经历了迅速发展——尤其是全球金融危机之后，饱受打击的银行纷纷减少了对小型借款人的放贷。

The potential in China is far bigger. "There are about 60m micro-entrepreneurs in cities and 200m rural poor, so it is a huge market opportunity," Mr Tang says.

中国的潜力要大得多。“中国约有6000万小型创业者，还有2亿农村贫困人口，因此，这是一个巨大的商机，”唐宁说。

P2P lenders in China have an image problem, however. They have been damaged by association with China's "underground banks" — illegal lenders that charge annualised rates as high as 60 per cent. Established lending sites such as CreditEase and PaiPaiDai say their average rates for borrowers are much lower, at about 20 per cent.

然而在中国，人人贷中的贷款方存在着某种形象问题。由于被人们与中国的“地下钱庄”——非法贷款组织，年利率高达60%——相提并论，它们的形象显得不甚光彩。具有一定口碑的贷款网站，如宜信和拍拍贷(PaiPaiDai)表示，其借款人所需支付的平均利率要低得多，大约在20%左右。

There have been concerns too about the P2P business model. Borrowers typically must provide personal information, including their all-important ID number, which is released to lenders if borrowers default. Yet it is still unsecured lending, with no collateral posted.

人人贷的商业模式也引发了一些人的担忧。通常来说，借款人必须提供个人信息，包括极其重要的身份证号，如果借款者违约，贷款者将获知对方的身份证号。尽管如此，由于缺乏担保，它仍是一种不安全的贷款行为。

Nevertheless, regulators appear to be gradually warming to the sector, which Mr Tang says is seen as a way to make "underground lending" more transparent.

不过，监管部门似乎正渐渐认可这一行业，按唐宁的话说，这被视为增加“地下钱庄”透明度的一种方式。

The P2P companies have also become more upfront about confronting risks. At Pandai, Mr Ying has created a protection fund to partially backstop the lenders if borrowers default.

在防范风险的问题上，人人贷公司也变得更加未雨绸缪。就盼贷而言，霍中皓建立了一只防范基金，目的就是当出现借款人违约的情况时，能够为贷款人提供一定程度的保护。

"It is still too early to pick winners from losers in microcredit," says Victor Wang, a banking analyst with Macquarie Securities. "But if these operations are doing genuine business and not becoming loan sharks, then they are at least helping small corporations to have better credit access."

“现在要判断出小额信贷领域中哪些是输家，哪些是赢家，还为时过早。”麦格理证券(Macquarie Securities)的银行业分析师王瑶平(Victor Wang)表示，“但如果这些公司能作到诚信经营、不演变成高利贷，那它们至少是在帮助小型企业获得更好的融资渠道。”

译者:何黎