Analysis of the Role of Personal Credit Data in Internet Economy

Abstract：Sesame Credit （Zhima Credit）， a case in this study， is a credit system which is designed based on people’s holistic data on the internet while Sesame Credit Score represents comprehensive treatment and assessment of massive information and data. In the era of developed network， personal credit data plays a vital role in the course of internet economy development. On this basis， the author takes Sesame Credit for example to analyze how personal credit data functions in the internet economy for reference.

Key words： Personal credit， internet， Sesame Credit

1.Introduction

With the continuous development of network and computer technology， the economy and society have entered the internet era.， which indicates that network has become an integral part of people’s life， work and study. It is not hard to find that internet economy which is growing vigorously and traditional entity economy are two wheels that drive transformation of Chinese economy. Sesame Credit， as an independent credit-scoring institution of Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial， evaluates users’ credit through analysis of large-scale network trading and personal network behavior. Such evaluation is used as reference for users’ subsequent financial services， thus greatly facilitating healthy development of internet economy.

2. Introduction to Personal Credit Data

Basic Database ofPersonal Credit Information is a sharing platform which collects personal credit information， and an important infrastructure which People’s Bank of China organizes commercial banks to establish. It is conducive to stabilizing China’s social credit system. The database collects， integrates and saves personal credit information of its main objects， i.e. natural persons who borrow loans and hold credit cards in commercial banks. At present， personal information gathered by the database is classified into three kinds： first， identity information. Users need to enter their personal data on the official website such as name， ID Card No.， family address and employer. Second， loan information. Every loan of users on the internet will be recorded in detail， including loan lending bank， amount of loan， term of loan， method of payment and actual payment records， etc. Third， credit card information， every credit card applied by users， covering card issuing bank， credit limit and payment records， etc.

3. The Role of Personal Credit Data in Internet Economy： A Case Study on Sesame Credit

3.1Improving Social Credit System and Guaranteeing Healthy Development of Internet Economy

Sesame Credit， on the basis ofAlibaba’s e-commerce trading data and internet financial data of Ant Financial， has established data cooperation with public institutions such as public security network and related partners. Compared to traditional credit data， Sesame Credit contains many detailed personal information such as credit card payment， transfer， online shopping， wealth management， utility fees payment， rent information， moving history and social relations. It assesses the credit of users and depicts their credit status in form of scoring. When users borrow loans from internet financial enterprises， these enterprises will judge users’ payment intention and capability pursuant to personal credit evaluation， and further provide corresponding credit and cash instalment services for users.

3.2 Promoting Inclusive Finance and Internet Economy

Before， banks emphasized loan borrowers’ own cost， i.e.， the so-called payment capability， while issuing loans to customers. As a result， the ordinary working class and some small and medium-sized enterprises do not have qualification and opportunities for loan application. Jack Ma introduced Sesame Credit at the World Economic Forum in 2017. Sesame Credit Score can be used to rent a car or a house and those with high scores can be exempted from security deposit. All users who have opted to its services will be attributed with a credit rating through which users’ loan capacity is determined. It means that as long as users consume with good faith， they will acquire loan capacity. Jack Ma remarked that they issued loans to five million small and medium-sized enterprises within five years starting from 2012. No matter how much loan is borrowed， as long as there is a credit rating， the determination can be made in three minutes and the loan will be transferred to applicants’ accounts in one second if the determination is positive. Therefore， it is not hard to see that to apply for loans， users just need to increase their credit scores through daily consumption without providing mortgage or guarantee. It means that the “poor groups” which are shut out by banks can be entitled to financial services， thus expanding the popularization of inclusive finance， enlarging the scope of service and boosting the development of internet economy.

3.3 Increasing Job Opportunities and Injecting Vitality to Internet Economy

Sesame Credit objectively presents personal credit status using cloud computing， machine learning and other technologies.It provides credit services for users and merchants in such aspects as credit card， consumption finance， financing lease， hotel， renting， traveling， marriage， classification information， student service and public utilities services. The setup of Sesame Credit， in addition to providing diverse services for citizens， has offered numerous posts for the human resources market. In 2016， Zhejiang University held a far-reaching job fair which featured the first introduction of Sesame Credit to the recruitment procedures， and created more study， part-time， employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for students. In the future， more enterprises will deem Sesame Credit data as their standards for employment.

Personal credit data， an emerging thing， takes up certain advantages on the current market. It can drive reform of many industries， bring about new job opportunities and instill new blood into internet economy to some extent.

4. Conclusion

The author maintains that the function of personal credit data will be further explored with constant development and progress of the big data era. Moreover， along with protection of user information and lawful utilization of credit data， personal credit data is bound to give greater play to its function in the future internet economy.

作者簡介：許馨月，天津市南開中學。