Fight against cryptocurrencies China closes data centers

As of: 06/22/2021 8:26 am

Virtual means of payment like Bitcoin are a thorn in the side of the Chinese government. That is why it is vehemently against it: Now data centers have been switched off in several parts of the country.

From Steffen Wurzel, ARD studio Shanghai

The Chinese government continues to vehemently oppose everything that has to do with Bitcoin. Banks and financial service providers were again asked not to offer any more services that have to do with crypto payment methods. One wants to preserve the stability and the security of the financial market and protect the assets and property of the population, said the state central bank of China.

China had banned trading in crypto-currency such as Bitcoin as early as 2017, as the first large country in the world. The so-called mining, however, i.e. the electronic generation of Bitcoins and Co with huge computer networks, was still tolerated by the Chinese authorities. The government has only been systematically taking action against decentralized and digital means of payment for around six weeks. Huge data centers were shut down in several parts of the country. Most recently, around two thirds of all new Bitcoins worldwide were generated with computers in China. This share will now decrease rapidly and significantly, say analysts.

Concept of bitcoin contradicts politics

Monetary and currency policy are centrally controlled in China. The central bank is directly under the communist leadership. The Chinese currency, renminbi or yuan, is not freely convertible. The decentralized and open concept of Bitcoin contradicts this policy and is therefore rejected by the Chinese government. At the same time, the government is working on its own digital currency, which, however, has almost nothing to do with Bitcoin.

The stricter action taken by the Chinese authorities against crypto-currency has helped Bitcoin to lose around half of its value in the past two months. The Bitcoin price is still a good three times as high as a year ago

Although it has been preparing to apply for a license once it is established, Huiyintong, which was born at the end of 2014, is destined to miss this license. As early as July 2014, after the central bank issued the ninth batch of 27 licenses, there have been rumors that the central bank will tighten license approval. In February 2015, the central bank mentioned in the notice on the key points of payment and settlement: “We must strictly enforce market access for payment institutions, encourage the merger and reorganization of existing institutions, continue to develop and improve market exit mechanisms, and study and implement classification and hierarchical supervision of payment institutions.” This is also considered by the outside world to be an important signal of the tightening of license policies. Since then, when the first batch of payment licenses expired and renewed in August 2016, the central bank made it clear that in principle, no new licenses would be issued, and Huiyintong’s wish to apply for a license was thus frustrated. Around 2014 when Huiyintong was born, it coincided with the small peak of domestic home appliance companies entering into finance. After experiencing the impact of the price war in 2000, in order to solve the capital needs of the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain and maintain profit growth, home appliance companies have embarked on a development path that combines industry and finance. In 2014, Haier and Gome successively established financial holding companies. Subsequently, TCL, Suning, and Midea also joined the camp. Home appliance companies have adopted equity participation or the establishment of new financial institutions to expand into the financial field. At the same time, the Internet financial industry in 2014 is in full swing. The success of Alipay and WeChat has caused many companies to target the payment industry, and the payment license as an industry pass is naturally sought after by everyone. Throughout the licensing history of several major appliance giants, Suning obtained a payment license through its wholly-owned subsidiary Epay as early as 2012, while Haier acquired a licensed third-party payment institution in March 2014. Quick pass. In addition, in August 2016, Midea acquired a 50% stake in Shenzhou Tongfu for 300 million yuan. In June 2017, Gome Financial Technology announced the acquisition of the entire equity of Yinyingtong Payment for 720 million yuan. So far, only TCL and Gree have never had a card in their hands. Although today, when the number is only decreasing, the license has gradually become a “rare thing”, but it is not that you have the wealth code if you have a payment license. In 2020, Haier’s Express Pass had a net loss of 14.178 million yuan for the year. This payment company not only failed to bring Haier profits, but also generated more than 700 million current liabilities. A few days ago, Haier Financial Holdings has signed an agreement with Commodity City, a listed A-share company, and intends to transfer this license at a price of 450 million yuan. For companies like Suning and Gome that have a complete e-commerce ecosystem, the payment license in hand can maximize the synergy value with the original business. Obviously, Haier and TCL lack such e-commerce soil, and payment licenses have become tasteless. After seven years of deployment in Internet finance, TCL has so far successfully obtained multiple licenses for Internet microfinance, consumer finance, and commercial factoring. However, it is only in the field of payment that it “runs naked without a license”. Faced with the indefinite reopening of approvals, the cancellation of Huiyintong is a prelude to an acquisition that is in line with its peers? Or is it a complete abandonment of this dispensable license? It is not yet clear

Produced | Sohu School of Business

Editor | Wang Zhen

According to the “Research Report on China’s Third-Party Payment Industry in 2021”, according to the statistical data of iResearch, The third-party payment market has experienced rapid development, and the total scale of mobile payment and Internet payment will reach 271 trillion yuan in 2020. Third-party payment has made China’s payment market one of the world’s leading payment markets with its convenient, efficient and safe payment experience.

As early as 1998-2005, third-party payment institutions such as Capitel, Alipay, Lianlian Pay, Kuaiqian and Tenpay were established one after another to provide payment channels for online commercial activities. In 2010, the People’s Bank of China issued the “Measures for the Administration of Payment Services for Non-financial Institutions” and issued payment business licenses to eligible institutions. These measures confirmed the legal status of payment services for non-financial institutions and adopted them as regulatory standards. To ensure the long-term and orderly development of the business and ensure the long-term development of the industry.

Looking back on the growth path of third-party mobile payment in my country, it originated from e-commerce, which has experienced explosive growth due to social red envelope transfers, and offline QR code payment has entered a new offline-driven track. With the rapid growth of scale, the penetration rate of third-party mobile payment has gradually increased, and the growth rate of the industry scale has stabilized. Even in the special year of 2020, only the first two quarters of offline QR code payment has been affected to a certain extent, and the industry as a whole can still maintain a stable growth trend.

From the perspective of changes in the structure of mobile payment itself, the emergence of offline QR code payment has changed the form of offline mobile payment, which has steadily increased the proportion of consumer transactions. In the financial and personal application trading sectors, with the exception of the early social red envelopes and baby currency fund products, there has not been a leap-forward product form since 2016. The growth of the business scale of these two sectors mainly comes from the mobile payment itself. Increasing penetration rate, increasing user stickiness, and the development of Internet wealth management and consumer finance businesses.

Comparing the structure of bank card transactions, we have also experienced an increase in the proportion of consumer transactions, but in 2020, bank card transfer transactions accounted for 85.5%, and third-party mobile payment personal applications and mobile finance accounted for the total proportion. It’s still not enough, so in large-amount financial services, personal application transfer services, and B-end transfer services, third-party mobile payment companies still have room for power and have growth potential.

In 2020, the first echelon Alipay and Tenpay will occupy the leading position in the market with a relatively large lead. . Payment companies in the second tier are working hard in their respective subdivisions.

The blue ocean oasis subsidy for the catering industry has temporarily come to an end, and the monetization rate of the payment business rebounds

In 2017, WeChat and Alipay successively launched the “Oasis Plan” and the “Blue Ocean Plan” for merchants in the catering industry. At the beginning of the event, merchants in the catering industry enjoy low or even zero rates for receiving payments, and service providers who promote merchants can also receive a 0.2% rebate based on the transaction amount. As the penetration of catering merchants continues to increase, the rebate ratio of Alipay WeChat to service providers will be reduced to 0.1% in the later stage. Until 2020, the Blue Ocean Oasis plan will gradually adjust merchants’ payment rates to the normal rate of 0.38%. The service provider rebate ratio was further reduced to 0.05%. At the same time, Alipay has launched the “New Blue Ocean Plan” for some merchants that are equipped with designated IoT operating equipment. But overall, the subsidy for the traditional blue ocean oasis will officially end in 2021, which means that this part of the transaction scale can not only get the normal payment fee, but also reduce the 0.05%-0.2% subsidy for service providers. The analysis believes that the phased end of the Blue Ocean Oasis Plan means that the benefits of this part of the transaction can be increased from -0.2% to 0.15% of the transaction scale to 0.38% of the transaction scale, and the overall transaction scale is increased by 0.23% -0.58%.

The party in the new scenario enters, forming a closed loop of the payment business, and increasing the compliance requirements for the realization path

For Internet giants such as Meituan, Toutiao, and Pinduoduo that have entered third-party payment in recent years, the consideration of starting payment services is usually for three reasons: One is to form their own business closed loop to prevent user transaction information and payment information from being out of the system. Other third-party payment companies can obtain the advantages of their own business; the second is that with the expansion of the business scale in the system, the total amount of payment transaction fees continues to increase, and the establishment of free payment channels can save this part of the cost; the third is to pass After the transaction flow in the system is converted into payment flow, services such as credit and wealth management are further superimposed to earn financial service fees.

Return to the nature of payment business, with core capabilities in user operations and merchant operations

Looking back at the development history of third-party payment, whether it is the “guaranteed payment model” in the e-commerce field, the red envelope in the social field or the offline QR code payment, every increase in growth rate comes from the innovative products provided to users and merchants. Unique value. Therefore, although the current anti-monopoly regulatory compliance measures facing the industry have caused some business development expectations to be different from before, However, it is precisely these anti-monopoly compliance measures that enable industry participants who have gradually shown to rely solely on the advantages of scenarios to expand their business scale to re-think about the new payment business value they can provide. With the implementation of anti-monopoly compliance measures, it is foreseeable that the concentration of the third-party mobile payment market will decline to a certain extent. In this process, a complete user and merchant operating system will maintain the stickiness of users and merchants. Providing unique value is the key capability of payment institutions.

Barcode payment provides a window for the digital upgrade of offline merchants, and diversified value-added services further facilitate digital transformation

For many online, small, medium and micro businesses, offline barcode payment is one of the first digital methods they contacted. In the process of continuous penetration of barcode payment, offline small, medium and micro merchants have also established a certain connection with their service providers. In terms of the classification of barcode payment, it can be divided into three methods: the payment code and personal code directly connected to the head payment agency, and the aggregate payment that requires other acquirers or acquirer service providers. While providing merchants with the integration of multiple payment channels, the provider of aggregate payment further superimposes services such as cashier terminal sales and maintenance, marketing diversion, etc., while increasing their own business income, further improving the stickiness of merchants and deepening the degree of digital transformation of merchants.

Increased demand for equipment upgrades in downstream systems, with less impact on mid- and upstream companies

The central bank’s digital currency replaces M0 and belongs to cash currency. According to the idea of ​​digital currency positioning as cash currency, we review the provisions of the “Provisions for Deposit Management of Non-bank Payment Institution Customers” issued this year: “Non-bank payment institutions passed the regulations in accordance with the regulations. If the customer is to redeem the provision in cash, it should be processed through the filing own fund account first, and then the corresponding amount of the client provision fund should be transferred to the filing through the main supervision agency of the provision fund from the central storage account of the provision fund. Own funds account”.

It can be seen that the digital wallet service of third-party payment institutions and the merchant-side acquiring service are still one of the important carriers of their circulation. The promotion of digital currency and the application of third-party payment are complementary and not a substitute for each other. At the same time, the clearing institution, which is an important infrastructure of the payment chain, will still play a clearing role in the digital currency era. In the downstream of the payment chain, acquiring service providers and machine tool manufacturers need to upgrade their original equipment and systems in order to allow digital currencies to have a wider range of payment scenarios. This certainty will be for downstream companies. Business income brings special growth drivers.

Service providers are facing transformation challenges and orderly integrate diversified corporate services

The emergence of offline QR code payment is the first contact between many offline merchants and digitization. With the sweeping wave of digitization and the upgrade of payment-related services, QR code ordering and merchant mini programs have become the entry point for further digitization of merchant business.

With the promotion of QR code ordering, small program takeaway, and ordering applications, it not only means savings in operating costs for merchants, but will also be accompanied by digital upgrades in the pre-payment link, which will make merchants’ operating information more complete, which is conducive to further progress. Analyze and improve their own operating efficiency and obtain external financial support.

For payment companies, the distinction between online and offline scenarios will be broken. Merchant services will still focus on offline attributes, but the services provided for them will not be limited to offline payments, which raises the overall technical capabilities of service providers. Requirements.

Receivables from the tax office Many short-time workers have to pay taxes

Status: 14.06.2021 2:49 p.m.

The short-time work allowance saved many jobs. But many recipients are now realizing that the tax office is demanding an additional tax payment: an additional burden for an already lower income. From Iris Sayram, rbb It is now the third amendment to the short-time work regulation that is going through parliament this week. “With short-time working we secure millions of jobs through the crisis and get the German economy important skilled workers for a quick start now in the summer”, Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) repeated only recently. This statement is not disputed; but after more than a year of short-time work, there are also side effects.

Short-time work requires a tax return

These are particularly noticeable now, as those receiving the benefits have to submit their tax returns for the 2020 pandemic year. Everyone who has “applied for more than 410 euros in the calendar year” has to make the declaration, according to the website of the Federal Employment Agency (BA). The calculation that as an employee subject to wage tax you usually get something back does not always apply here. Some even have to pay back large sums of money to the tax office. “This mainly affects the recipients who were not sent 100 percent on short-time work, but only partially,” says the managing director of the Federal Association of Wage Tax Aid Associations, Uwe Rauhöft tagesschau.de . The Berlin Left MP Sebastian Schluesselburg knows exactly such a case from his public consultation: A woman from the hotel industry was put on short-time work at the beginning of the pandemic. “Your cash flow is already greatly reduced by the high rent and having a small child,” said Schluesselburg. But she has now been completely “blown away” by the additional tax payment of more than 1000 euros – payable within four weeks.

background 05/19/2021

With the decision comes the tax shock

“This is not an isolated case,” says Uwe Rauhöft from the income tax aid association. “If the regular working hours are reduced to 50 percent and short-time work allowance is granted for the other 50 percent, then the wage tax is sometimes reduced very sharply,” explains the expert. The reduced wage tax will fall disproportionately because of the progressive tax rate. “As a result, however, too little wage tax is paid over the year,” Rauhöft continues. With the income tax return this is now noticeable. Those affected often only noticed this when they received the payment notification. “If you don’t expect it beforehand and don’t know, you now have a problem.” The Federal Employment Agency cannot give precise figures on how many recipients are now confronted with back payments. It is only clear that there are not just a few isolated cases. Several million employees have received short-time allowance since the beginning of the pandemic. According to the latest projections by the BA, it was around 2.6 million in March.

05/05/2021

Experts complain that there is insufficient information

In the FAQ area of ​​the employment agency there is a note in the last sub-item that “short-time allowance as wage replacement benefit is tax-free”. It also states that the service will be taken into account when determining the tax rate. “This can lead to additional tax claims”. This should have been pointed out more clearly, says tax law expert Sandra Inioutis. The tax advisor knows the problem. “It is a highly complicated process and it is not possible to say in general who it affects.” It is all the more necessary to better educate the recipients here. “Perhaps one should have said from an official point that the basically tax-free service is provided with a” but “”, says Inioutis tagesschau.de .

05/22/2021

Little indulgence in repayment

“As if that weren’t bad enough, the tax office is proceeding with full force here,” reports the left-wing politician Schliisselburg. The young family wanted to pay the 1000 euros in two installments, but that would only be possible if all of their own funds were practically exhausted. A credit line must also be used beforehand in order to get a deferral approved. “That is unbelievable. People are being driven into over-indebtedness,” the politician said indignantly. But the law on the possibility of deferral requires that an installment payment is only to be granted in the event of “considerable hardship”. “Unfortunately that is the legal situation. But I would not recommend a deferral either, the interest rate is six percent per year. That will then be even more expensive,” advises expert Rauhöft from the income tax aid association. However, the interest rates for an overdraft facility are likely to be in a similar range or even higher.

Explaining his decision, Elon Musk expressed concern that “the use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining is rapidly increasing.” Elon Musk has just announced, Tesla will “pause buying cars with Bitcoin”, because of concerns that the use of fossil fuels to mine Bitcoin is increasing rapidly. (Photo: Canva) “Tesla has stopped accepting car purchases with Bitcoin. We are concerned about the rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and trading, especially coal. Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but that cannot come at a cost to the environment. Tesla will not sell any Bitcoin and we plan to use it for transactions as soon as we transition mining to more sustainable energy,” Elon Musk wrote on Twitter. The recent announcement of billionaire Elon Musk on Twitter. (Screenshots) After Elon Musk’s announcement, the cryptocurrency market quickly “red” when the price of Bitcoin plunged below the $50,000 mark, losing more than 12% in the last 24 hours. Bitcoin price this morning, this coin previously dropped below $47,000 after Elon Musk’s announcement. (Photo: CoinMarketCap) Elon Musk’s decision is completely opposite to what this billionaire has previously stated. In early February, Tesla announced that it had spent $1.5 billion to buy Bitcoin, as well as saying that it could invest in a number of other digital currencies in the future. (Photo: Daniel Oberhaus (2018) / Protocol) In addition, Tesla also announced that it will soon let users use Bitcoin to buy its cars. By the end of March, Elon Musk announced that users in the US could buy Tesla cars with Bitcoin.

Image source @Visual China 01 I want to talk about this topic directly because I saw that the US version of Huabei Affirm went up by more than 98% on the day it went public some time ago, and the stock price has already crossed $100. The financial technology market is really hot, especially the payment track. The epidemic has forced the American public to start squatting at home, and even the way they spend money has to change. Amazon temporarily expanded the recruitment of warehousing packers, and Uber Eats began to recruit take-out brothers. The speed of take-out to China is finally about to infiltrate and infiltrate into North America. In the past, people in North America didn’t believe in the security of mobile phones. As long as countless software touched the red line of user privacy, they would smash the battlefield. Users with deep roots like Facebook can’t complain, and Xiaozha won’t admit it, but foreign companies and small local companies can still drown it with the saliva of the public. So in terms of data security and user privacy, only they know how well the North American software has done it. Counting how many API interfaces are open, people are more cunning than people. But the matter of paying and receiving money, after all, is about the security of the wallet. So people can understand how much they care about. 02 Looking at the payment track in the United States, companies such as Paypal were established early and built a reputation before the millennium, and their relationships and channels with banks and companies were also cleared in place. If you accidentally pay the wrong amount, you can withdraw it in time to avoid loss. This kind of veteran player is just like the Alipay we are used to. The industry pioneers have different status in the arena, so they are naturally trustworthy. Paypal is also capable. Tesla’s hero Elon Musk was once the CEO of Paypal. According to official data, its users reached 377 million in 2020, covering more than 100 currency types of transactions. When the era of shifting from the PC terminal to the mobile terminal arrives, the competition on the mobile payment track will become more intense. Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter, came in to spoil the game and founded Square Cash, and Paypal has once again launched a payment software for millennials, Venmo. The American public has learned that the Chinese people have begun to transfer money to collect money on their mobile phones, and the banks themselves are also anxious. Some banks have also joined forces to create a “US version of UnionPay” called Zelle. Participants include JP Morgan, Bank of America BOA and Wells Fargo. In addition, Google Pay also launched a new red envelope news during the New Year, and Facebook has also launched its own payment channel. Apple Pay can transfer funds directly in iMessage, and it can also be opened in its own ecology. But let’s not mention these small-scale companies, the data of the main three companies are still very tight. For example, around 2018, Venmo’s trading volume was still at the bottom, and it has now been on the rise. So looking at these three companies based on the data, Zelle has a large transaction volume because of the bank’s endorsement, and user trust is relatively high. But the development of Square Cash has been relatively slow. However, Square also has card readers, cashiers and other businesses. Although it has not been profitable, it must be a problem for a while. 03 Back to the original question, can mobile payment succeed in social networking? Ever since WeChat Red Packets broke the game with the help of WeChat’s “connecting people with people”, WeChat Pay began to ride the waves. Although there are many Chinese people, no one wants to watch the opponent grow bigger and helpless, so if you touch my cake, don’t blame me for doing it in your territory. Although these are all jokes, no matter what the people inside the besieged city say, from the perspective of outsiders, Alipay has always had the heart to be social. When “Laiwang” came out that year, it was rumored that every employee had the task of recruiting 300 employees, and it was directly linked to the KPI at the end of the year. In the instant messaging market at that time, the data traffic was not yet parity. Yixin can now send text messages and phone calls free of charge, and the users are rising steadily. Of course, Ding Lei is happy, so he won’t be able to speak anymore. When evaluating several mobile IM products, Ding Lei said that he has a negative score, 0 for Yixin, and 5 for WeChat. After hearing this, Ma Yun began to choke back, “Some people say that the relationship is dead, we just insist on letting the relationship live one more day; now we have a full moon for the relationship, and in the future we will celebrate the birthday for the relationship, and pass it year by year. Both students from Hangzhou, why are you too anxious? When I was young, I made products, but it was just a battle of saliva. 04 But Venmo in the United States actually incorporates social attributes. This is also the reason why its stamina is so great. We mentioned in the SHEIN article that the spending of young Americans was only $3,023 at the peak of this decade. Please note that this is an annual cost, not every month. So on average, it is about RMB 2,000 per month. 2000 yuan a month, there are now some college students in China who have more generous hands than this. Therefore, young people in the United States will not go to high-end restaurants when they go out to eat. If there are no guests, the AA system is normal. The key is that many small restaurants or dining trucks limit the number of cards per table, and even only accept cash, because the more the card is swiped, the more bank fees will be paid. In this case, only one person can pay, and the others will pay. Transfer the money to her. Does the resulting transfer and payment scene sound more familiar? But the more interesting thing is that Venmo’s transfer information flow is public. Of course, it refers to the situation where you set up “non-private” when you pay a friend. There are three statuses for each transfer: public, among friends, and personal. But even if mutual friends see the transfer information between you, the amount will be hidden. But why do you pay your friends, where, what activities, what restaurants, and what you eat? This information may be disclosed or seen by mutual friends. Mutual friends can even like to comment on your transaction information, you can also reply, and a few people happily join the next round in the comment section. An interesting survey in the United States showed that some emoji expressions are used extensively because one sentence can be added to describe the purpose or event of the payment. Among them, Pizza has the highest expression usage. Young people in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Chicago especially love it. Compared to the red wine expressions in New York and the capital, Washington, the chain of contempt for the US East and the West is understandable. The people of Fancy’s east coast are flirting and discussing business in the Bar in suits and leather shoes, which is like the big pants legging on the west coast, they will only chew on carbon water bombs after the exercise. There is also an interesting piece of information in this picture. The most expensive scenario for using emoji is in renting a house. It seems that there are still quite a lot of people sharing rent. 5 In fact, Alipay also has a lot of “light socializing”. Look at the ant forest. You steal your friend’s energy. If he doesn’t go out to ride a bicycle and pay offline, you can’t get his energy. After all, he is out to play, so you can grab some grams. This is the same as the WeChat sports ranking according to the number of steps. You have to go out to play and have steps to be on the list to achieve the possibility of social interaction. The other person may think in his heart, “Is this guy likes sports as much as I do”, and a common topic soon comes up. Like Venmo’s “AA that can describe which restaurant to eat and which social event”, it actually comes with a little extra information. This kind of information can help users find common ground, but it’s not too private. This is the so-called “light social” model. Venmo actually promotes this kind of light socialization. For example, in events like the Super Bowl, your friend pays for beer. When you transfer it to him, just enter super, and the system will automatically pop up the Superbowl tag. It can be seen that it hopes that you will find your interests and achieve a kind of community relationship. However, highly personal information such as transactions becomes available for dissemination on public platforms, and the boundary between public and private tends to become more blurred. People with a sense of boundary may feel a little uncomfortable when using Venmo. Who do I eat with, where do I date, and why should I let others know?

Amazon introduces automatic payment technology into large-scale supermarkets Features of Amazon’s automatic checkout technology, called “Just Walk Out”, appear in the planning document for a store under construction in a suburban mall in Brookfield, Connecticut. This technology allows customers to bypass checkout items by tracking any items they pick up and bill when they leave. Shoppers simply swipe their smartphone at the store entrance, where shoppers will likely scan apps or credit cards when they arrive. Inside, cargo is monitored by cameras, software algorithms and shelf sensors. Ceiling-mounted cameras are capable of tracking items that buyers pick up in the store. Amazon seems to have tackled a significant technical challenge, creating a take-and-go system that can handle shoppers’ scores at the same time and cover major supermarkets without too much cost to construction and operation. This breakthrough will push Amazon ahead of competitors, which are experimenting with similar camera-based technology developed by various startups. The executives of these companies have admitted that they may not be able to install cashier systems in large supermarkets in a year or two. The widespread adoption of automatic payments is likely to lead to criticism from labor unions that accuse Amazon of seeking to eliminate cashiers. Because this is one of the most popular jobs in America. The goal of the Just Walk Out program, the company says, is convenience for shoppers, not cutting labor or costs. Amazon has created thousands of grocery jobs since the launch of its first Fresh store last year. Planning brochure for a shop under construction in Brookfield, Connecticut. Photo: Brookfield Public Records. Industry’s miracle? Since the launch of the Fresh chain in southern California, Amazon has opened 12 stores, with 37 more under development across the US. But beyond testing at a Fresh suburban Chicago store, the new chain doesn’t feature Go-style automated payments, surprising industry followers with a less traditional approach. Instead, Amazon developed the Dash smart cart, which has sensors and cameras that help replenish purchases as shoppers move through the aisles. The shopping cart stops in a seamless shopping experience. They only hold a few bags of food and shoppers are unable to take them out, forcing them to move the bags into a low-tech trolley or transport their food to the parking lot. Keeping track of dozens of people in a large store is a technical challenge. Along with that, cost also slows down the adoption of non-cashier technology. Equipping a camera for a 2,000 square meter convenience store can be done with several dozen devices. However, the coverage of a full-service supermarket is much bigger. With the trend of large area supermarkets in the US, the requirement for more cameras and servers has to be exponentially larger for video processing and storage. That could quickly erase the benefits of hiring fewer cashiers or attracting more people into the store with the promise of seamless payments. Amazon has worked for years to streamline its Just Walk Out system, making it more cost-effective for its own stores and attracting other companies that might license the technology. this. Even as Amazon exclusively opened small convenience stores, the company’s engineers were asked to build a version of the technology that would be available in stores larger than 2787 square meters or more. Smart Shopping Cart Dash. Photo: Amazon. If Amazon completes rolling out the cashier-free payments technology in its Fresh stores, it represents an industry feat. Startups like Standard Cognition, AiFi, and Grabango have all developed autonomous systems for retailers, but widespread adoption of the technology is still costly and challenging to implement in large store format.

Amazon will soon introduce the cashier-free payment technology at its grocery chain Fresh Features of technology automatic payment Amazon’s, called “Just Walk Out”, appears in the planning document for a store under construction in a suburban mall in Brookfield, Connecticut. This technology allows customers to bypass checkout items by tracking any items they pick up and bill when they leave. Shoppers simply swipe their smartphone at the store entrance, where shoppers are likely to scan application or credit card when they arrive. Inside, cargo is monitored by cameras, software algorithms and shelf sensors. Ceiling-mounted cameras are capable of tracking items that buyers pick up in the store. Amazon seems to have tackled a significant technical challenge, creating a take-and-go system that can handle shoppers’ scores at the same time and cover large supermarkets without spending too much to build. build and operate. However, the application is widespread automatic payment feature Amazon faces charges of trying to eliminate cashiers, one of the most popular jobs in the United States. Amazon says its goal is to facilitate shoppers, not cut labor costs. Amazon says it has created thousands of groceries jobs since it opened its first fresh food store last year. Supermarket Under construction in Connecticut covers approximately 3,000 square meters, including warehouse, office space and a temporary storage area for online ordering. The shopping mall should be covered with cameras that are about 2,000 square meters in size. This space is 3 times bigger than supermarkets using Just Walk Out technology today, so automatic payment solution can solve Amazon’s human resource problem. Since the launch of the Fresh chain in southern California, Amazon has opened 12 stores, with 37 more under development across the US. But beyond testing at a Fresh suburban Chicago store, the new chain doesn’t feature Go-style automated payments, surprising industry followers with a less traditional approach. Instead, Amazon developed the Dash smart cart, which has sensors and cameras that help replenish purchases as shoppers move through the aisles. The shopping cart stops in a seamless shopping experience. They only hold a few bags of food and shoppers are unable to take them out, forcing them to move the bags into a low-tech trolley or transport their food to the parking lot. Last year, Amazon launched an identity system that allows shoppers to “wave” to pay. The system is called Amazon One and is deployed in convenience stores, bookstores … in the Seattle area and is planning to continue to expand elsewhere.

In the 2021 annual general meeting of shareholders on the morning of April 23, Mr. Le Quoc Binh, General Director of the company, explained the reason. Mr. Binh said that CII really wants to pay dividends because the BT project of Thu Thiem new urban area (total investment of over 10,000 billion dong) will finish this year and create cash flow for the company. However, this cash flow is late, and the debt index of the company at the end of 2020 will increase due to having to issue a large amount of bonds. In fact, bondholders forced CII to stop paying dividends to shareholders. Besides, the negotiation with foreign partners is quite difficult, so it is impossible to say when it is possible to close the right to pay dividend, Mr. Binh said. Shareholders suggest the company should use retained earnings from previous years to pay dividends in cash for shareholders. In response, Mr. Binh shared that according to the law, in order to pay dividends, the debt obligation criteria must be guaranteed in advance for a third party. Not to mention, CII needs to accumulate money to invest. Mr. Binh noted that it will be difficult for the company to ensure both debt repayment and investment and also pay dividends to shareholders. Therefore, Mr. Binh suggested that shareholders agree to the decisions of the Board of Directors to distribute profits, but Mr. Binh also affirmed that the company will do its best to ensure dividends to shareholders. 2021 is 12% cash (1,200 dong / share) “. The audited consolidated financial statements show that by the end of 2020, CII’s total liabilities are over 21,761 billion dong, of which short-term debt is 8,293 billion dong and long-term debt is over 13,468 billion dong. Debt to equity ratio is about 2.81 times. At the end of the stock trading session on April 24, the price of CII stock was temporarily stopped at VND 21,350 / share, a slight increase compared to the previous session, but down more than 6% within a week. CII share price fell by nearly 12% within a month and nearly 8% within a quarter.

This article is reproduced with authorization from[Wu Zhizhang](ID: esnql520)

Author/Li Xiaowai

Editor/Wu Yandi

01

I want to talk about this topic directly because I saw that the US version of Huabei Affirm went up by more than 98% on the day it went public some time ago, and the stock price has already crossed $100.

The financial technology market is really hot, especially the payment track. The epidemic has forced the American public to start squatting at home, and even the way they spend money has to change.

Amazon temporarily expanded the recruitment of warehousing packers, and Uber Eats began to recruit takeout brothers. The speed of food delivery to China is finally about to infiltrate and infiltrate into North America, which is really amazing.

In the past, people in North America didn’t believe in the security of mobile phones. As long as countless software touched the red line of user privacy, they would break the battlefield.

Users with deep roots like Facebook can’t complain, and Xiaozha won’t admit it, but foreign companies and small local companies can still drown it with the saliva of the public.

So in terms of data security and user privacy, only they know how well the North American software has done it. Counting how many API interfaces are open, people are more cunning than people.

But the matter of paying and receiving money, after all, is about the security of the wallet. So people can understand how much they care about.

02

Looking at the payment track in the United States, companies such as Paypal were established early and built a reputation before the millennium, and their relationships and channels with banks and companies were also cleared in place.

If you accidentally pay the wrong amount, you can withdraw it in time to avoid loss. This kind of veteran player is just like the Alipay we are used to. The industry pioneers have different status in the arena, so they are naturally trustworthy.

Paypal is also capable. Tesla’s hero Elon Musk was once the CEO of Paypal. According to official data, its users reached 377 million in 2020, covering more than 100 currency types of transactions.

When the era of shifting from the PC terminal to the mobile terminal arrives, the competition on the mobile payment track will become more intense.

Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter, came in to spoil the game and founded Square Cash, and Paypal has once again launched a payment software for millennials, Venmo.

The American public has learned that the Chinese people have begun to transfer money to collect money on their mobile phones, and the banks themselves are also anxious. Some banks have also joined forces to create a “US version of UnionPay” called Zelle. Participants include JP Morgan, Bank of America BOA and Wells Fargo.

In addition, Google Pay also launched a new red envelope news during the New Year, and Facebook has also launched its own payment channel. Apple Pay can transfer money directly in iMessage, and it can also be opened in its own ecology.

But let’s not mention these small-scale companies, the data of the main three companies are still very tight. For example, around 2018, Venmo’s trading volume was still at the bottom, and it has now been on the rise.

So looking at these three companies based on the data, Zelle has a large transaction volume because of the bank’s endorsement, and user trust is relatively high. But the development of Square Cash has been relatively slow.

However, Square also has card readers, cashiers and other businesses. Although it has not been profitable, it must be a problem for a while.

03

Back to the original question, can mobile payment succeed in social networking?

Ever since WeChat red envelopes broke the game with the help of WeChat’s “connecting people with people”, WeChat Pay began to ride the wind and waves.

Although there are many Chinese people, no one wants to watch the opponent grow bigger and helpless, so if you touch my cake, don’t blame me for doing it in your territory.

Although these are all jokes, no matter what the people inside the besieged city say, from the perspective of outsiders, Alipay has always had the heart to be social.

When “Laiwang” came out that year, it was rumored that every employee had the task of recruiting 300 employees, and it was directly linked to the KPI at the end of the year.

In the instant messaging market at that time, the data traffic was not yet parity. Yixin can now send text messages and phone calls free of charge, and the users are rising steadily. Of course, Ding Lei is happy, so he won’t be able to speak anymore.

When evaluating several mobile IM products, Ding Lei said that he has a negative score, 0 for Yixin, and 5 for WeChat.

After hearing this, Ma Yun began to choke back, “Some people say that the relationship is dead, we just insist on letting the relationship live one more day; now we will have a full moon for the relationship, and in the future we will celebrate the birthday for the relationship, and pass it year after year.”

Both students from Hangzhou, why are you too anxious? When I was young, I made products, but it was just a battle of saliva.

04

But Venmo in the United States actually incorporates social attributes. This is also the reason why its stamina is so great.

We mentioned in the SHEIN article that the spending of young Americans was only $3,023 at the peak of this decade. Please note that this is an annual cost, not every month. So on average, it is about RMB 2,000 per month.

2000 yuan a month, there are now some college students in China who have more generous hands than this. Therefore, young people in the United States will not go to high-end restaurants when they go out to eat. If there are no guests, the AA system is normal.

The key is that many small restaurants or dining trucks limit the number of cards per table, or even only accept cash, because the more the card is swiped, the more bank charges will be paid. In this case, only one person can pay, and the others will pay. Transfer the money to her.

Does the resulting transfer and payment scene sound more familiar?

But the more interesting thing is that Venmo’s transfer information flow is public. Of course, it refers to the situation where you set up “non-private” when you pay a friend. There are three statuses for each transfer: public, among friends, and personal.

But even if mutual friends see the transfer information between you, the amount will be hidden.

But why do you pay your friends, where, what activities, what restaurants, and what you eat? This information may be disclosed or seen by mutual friends. Mutual friends can even like to comment on your transaction information, you can also reply, and a few people happily play the next round in the comment section.

An interesting survey in the United States showed that some emoji expressions are used extensively because one sentence can be added to describe the purpose or event of the payment.

Among them, Pizza has the highest expression usage. Young people in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Chicago especially love it. Compared to the red wine expressions in New York and the capital, Washington, the chain of contempt for the US East and the West is understandable.

The people of Fancy’s east coast are flirting and discussing business in the Bar in suits and leather shoes, which is like the big pants legging on the west coast, they will only chew on carbon water bombs after the exercise.

There is also an interesting piece of information in this picture. The most expensive scenario for using emoji is in renting a house. It seems that there are still quite a lot of people sharing rent.

05

In fact, Alipay also has a lot of “light socializing”.

Look at the ant forest. You steal your friend’s energy. If he doesn’t go out to ride a bicycle and pay offline, you can’t get his energy. After all, he is out to play, so you can grab some grams.

This is the same as the WeChat sports ranking of steps. You have to go out and have steps before you can be on the list to achieve the possibility of social interaction. The other person may think in his heart, “Is this guy likes sports as much as I do”, and a common topic will soon come up.

Like Venmo’s “AA that can describe which restaurant to eat and which social event”, it actually comes with a little extra information. This kind of information can help users find common ground, but it’s not too private.

This is the so-called “light social” model.

Venmo actually promotes this kind of light socialization. For example, in events like the Super Bowl, your friend paid for beer for you. When you transfer it to him, just enter super, and the system will automatically pop up the Superbowl tag. It can be seen that it hopes that you will find your interests and achieve a kind of community relationship.

However, highly personal information such as transactions becomes available for dissemination on public platforms, and the boundary between public and private tends to become more blurred.

People with a sense of boundary may feel a little uncomfortable when using Venmo. Who do I eat with, where do I date, and why should I let others know?

The Turkish central bank forbids payments with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Trading in digital currencies and paying with them are associated with “significant risks” and may lead to “irreparable” damage, the institute said. Cryptocurrencies are not subject to any regulation or supervision by a central bank and the rates are subject to high fluctuations. In addition, the central bank is concerned that cyber currencies will prevent the Turkish lira continues to come under pressure . It has lost a lot of its value in recent years, and inflation is high in the country. Crypto fans also see digital assets such as Bitcoin or Ethereum as a hedge against currency weakness and inflation.

Accepted as a means of payment by more and more companies

The new regulation, which is to apply from April 30th, prohibits payment processors from making transfers in cryptocurrencies. Direct and indirect payments are affected, wrote the central bank in its official gazette. In contrast, the ban does not seem to apply to the possession of digital currencies. Recently, more and more businesses in Turkey had accepted cryptocurrencies as a means of payment, just a few days ago, for example, the car dealer Royal Motors, which sells Rolls-Royce and Lotus vehicles in the country. Worldwide, Apple, Amazon and the online travel company Expedia have been ready for a while. Also the electric car manufacturer Tesla accepts cryptocurrencies when paying . A Bitcoin was around three percent cheaper to $ 61,490. The course had chased from one record to the next in the past few months – many experts are warning of a bubble. Shares in companies that deal with cryptocurrencies also came under pressure.

Ran Dimension (ID: chaintruth) original Ran Caijing product

Author | Deng Shuanglin Du Xiaoling Guo Yimeng Cao Yang Sun Mina

Edit | Rao Xiafei

“How long have you not used cash?” This is actually a question of soul torture.

“I even forgot what cash is like”, “Whoever uses cash now, even roadside beggars can scan the code”, “I withdrew 3,000 yuan two years ago, and now I still pay it back There are more than two thousand at home, and I have never used it.”…

In the past, wallets were a must-have for people to go out, but nowadays, mobile phones have almost completely replaced the status of wallets, and cash is gradually fading out of people’s lives.

A set of data can directly support this conclusion: in 2020, the number of ATM machines will shrink by more than 80,000 units, and the number of ATM machines per 10,000 people nationwide will also drop from 7.87 units in 2019 to 7.24 units, a year-on-year decrease of 7.95%.

This shows that “withdrawing cash” is no longer a necessary behavior for consumers, and the change in this behavior has become particularly obvious since 2016.

In the Spring Festival of 2015, WeChat began to join hands with the Spring Festival Gala to launch the red envelope grabbing activity for all people. In the Spring Festival of 2016, Alipay launched the “Five Fortune Collection” campaign for the first time. Under the behavior of the people “crazy grabbing” cash red envelopes, mobile payment quietly replaced cash payment. Status.

The “China Payment and Clearing Industry Operation Report (2017)” shows that the transaction value of cash withdrawal business in 2016 was 65.5 trillion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 10.46%.

However, the mobile payment services of Alipay and WeChat have achieved rapid growth. By 2016, the total mobile payment transactions of payment institutions had reached 51.01 trillion yuan, accounting for 77.9% of the cash withdrawal business, compared with 30% in the previous year.

After the 2020 epidemic, the “cashless” consumption method is even more respected. Nowadays, mobile payment has almost completely changed the payment habits of consumers and the settlement methods of merchants. More and more people do not remember when they last touched cash.

Statistics show that as of December 2020, the number of mobile payment users in China has reached 853 million, accounting for 86.5% of mobile Internet users.

But, is cash really not “sweet” anymore?

In fact, cash is still a rigid need in the lives of some people, such as the elderly who have difficulty adapting to electronic payments. In the lives of many young people, cash has not yet “dead”. There are still some scenes where cash must be used, such as gift giving.

In this issue, we chatted with 6 young people. They still use cash in different situations and even feel the convenience brought by cash. Some of them use cash to buy food at the vegetable market for the sake of “whole wool”, some find that cash is faster to queue up for registration, and some find that cash is more convenient when traveling abroad. Some young people follow the tradition and directly use red envelopes for gifts during the holidays.

The experience of these young people reflects to a certain extent that cash has not completely left people’s lives. In different scenarios, cash still has an irreplaceable position.

In the hospital, cash payment for registration saves a lot of time

Cocoa｜26-year-old community operation

Today’s young people, few people go out with cash with them, as long as they bring a mobile phone. But my experience this time makes me take 100 yuan in cash every time I go out.

Last weekend, I went to the hospital to see a doctor. When I arrived at the hospital, it was almost 11 o’clock, and the 10 registration windows were full of people. I was a little anxious, afraid that I would not be able to register for the morning. At this moment, I suddenly discovered that there were very few people in a line, only a few people.

I was still thinking about not lining up in this team, so I went to that team to line up. When it was my turn, it was very fast. During the registration, the doctor told me directly after inquiring about the department I registered, “The registration fee is 10 yuan, in cash.”

I was stunned. It turned out that this was the cash window. I looked at the doctor awkwardly and said that I didn’t bring it. The doctor told me that this window only accepts cash and there is no way. I had to go to the WeChat Alipay window to queue again. As a result, the WeChat Alipay window was full of people, and it would not be my turn at all for a while.

Because I was afraid of the number after the morning, I decided to try something out. With the mentality of trying, I thought that the people who came to the cash window to register must have brought cash, so I asked, “Hello, can I change the cash? I will scan the code and send it to you.”

I asked several people in a row, but they were not willing to scan the code for me. In fact, I also understand that because the people at the cash window are all too old, although they will carry cash with them, they are probably afraid of meeting a liar, and their faces are questionable.

After waiting a while, a young man finally came to register at the cash window, and I once again plucked up the courage to ask. This time I successfully changed to 100 yuan in cash, and then used WeChat payment and receipt to pay him. I quickly registered the account, saving time.

While waiting in line, the young man laughed at me and said, “Why don’t you come to the hospital without cash? You don’t come to the hospital often.” I said helplessly, “Because mobile payment is very convenient now!” A young man laughed at the time and said, “Sometimes, cash is more convenient. When necessary, you still need to prepare some cash for emergencies.”

As the young man said, it makes sense to put a few pieces of Grandpa Mao’s body in his pocket. Although electronic payment greatly facilitates our lives, if only electronic payment is used, it will bring another trouble to life.

In order to save some money for grocery shopping, I always have change in my wallet

Xiaowen | 24 years old operating

“Green vegetables, two yuan and three.” “I pay in cash, don’t ask for three cents.” This is the scene where I buy vegetables and bargain prices from vendors every weekend.

This is not the first time I go to the morning market to buy food in cash.

But before that, because it’s very convenient to scan the QR code to pay, and I hate to find change, there are always so many coins left in the bag, and even lost. Every time I go shopping, I only bring my mobile phone and scan it directly. Code payment.

But later, I discovered that elderly grandpas and aunts always carry their wallets. No matter how much they buy, they are paid in cash. At the time, I still felt that they were too outdated. Until one day I found out that grandpas and aunts were using cash. When paying, they will always bargain with the stall owner, for example, wiping out zeros directly. In many cases, the stall owner will simply erase the odds for convenience. After discovering the truth, I also learned it.

In order to use cash to buy vegetables, I even went to the ATM to get cash. After I bought something in the nearby supermarket, I changed the 100 yuan in cash, and then used the change to buy vegetables at the vegetable market. At first, I would be embarrassed to bargain with vegetable vendors, and always wait until there are fewer people to tell the boss that I pay in cash.

Later, I always followed my grandfather and aunt to buy groceries together, learning to see how they used cash to bargain, and even learned their tone of voice, “Just the three cents, don’t ask for it.” I, these words are very smooth, and I never feel embarrassed when bargaining.

Of course, you will also meet bosses who don’t want to erase anything, but the few cents you find can eventually be spent. A few days ago, I met a vegetable seller who said to me: “There are not many people paying in cash now.”

In fact, paying for the food in cash is not to squeeze some wool, but to save a few bucks, to exchange for change. Although it is troublesome, it adds so much fun to my life.

Next time I go shopping for groceries, I will still bring my prepared change, maybe I can save money for a Coke.

It’s better to use cash for tipping.

Chen Pan | 29 years old Japanese translator

In the summer of 2018, I returned to China after graduating from Nagoya University with a master’s degree. It was not as much as I am now. In addition, I am more Buddha and I was not in a hurry to find a job. I spent a few days at home. One day, my mother saw an aunt in her circle of friends who went to Thailand. She was too envious and started to persuade me. In the end, I couldn’t stand my mother, and I really wanted to travel and relax, so I decided to go play once.

Before I left, I checked the strategy. Everyone said that WeChat and Alipay can be used in Bangkok, but because cash was basically used in Japan before, I finally went to the bank to exchange some, about 7,000 or 8,000 baht, just in case.

When I arrived in Bangkok, although I did my homework, I was shocked to see the Alipay and WeChat advertisements on the street. Hotels and large supermarkets can scan the code.

I have a habit of going to a new place and visiting the local vegetable market first. It turns out that cash at the stall is still useful. When buying mangoes, the boss’s phone did not show up after scanning the code, and he was so anxious that he had to ask many people for help. After that, I paid in cash to minimize the trouble to others. Later, I learned that the roadside stalls and vegetable markets in Bangkok had just been connected to WeChat and Alipay.

Another place where you must use cash when you go to Thailand is to tip. Although Thailand is a Southeast Asian country, it is particularly influenced by Western tipping culture. In many places, tips are required.

The massage industry in Thailand is more developed than in the country, and street shops are everywhere. The day before we left, we found a high-rated massage shop on the review platform and gave me a 50-year-old aunt who was very simple. Chat with us and tell us what is interesting and delicious in Thailand. I was ticklish and screaming. She was very patient. She kept smiling and said, “It’s so comfortable, it’s so comfortable.” At the checkout, I gave my aunt a tip of 50 yuan, which is not a small amount, but I think it’s worth it!

Generally speaking, there are not many tips for this trip. After all, with my mother, I didn’t go to a few places with strong service. If you are with the little sisters, you will definitely watch a ladyboy show and go to a bar for two drinks. Cash in these places must be used.

After returning home, there was a lot of Thai baht left, because the bank exchange fee was deducted, so the bottom of the box was pressed. I think that after the epidemic is over, I want to go with my sisters again, and then use it again.

Companies that use cash to pay wages must be cautious in entering

Yang Yang | 22 years old copywriter

When I first graduated and entered society a year ago, I didn’t understand the importance of five social insurance and one housing fund, and I didn’t know how to distinguish whether the company was formal or not. So confused, I joined a newly established small company to do copywriting.

There are not many people in this company. There are only 10 people including the boss. The monthly salary is paid to us after the boss seals the cash. At that time, I had too little social experience and didn’t understand what this behavior meant. Instead, I felt quite ceremonial. After all, in the era of rampant mobile payments, many people have few opportunities to touch a large stack of them on a regular basis. Cash out.

Although it is very happy to count the money after receiving the cash salary, the trouble is that after the count is finished, I still find time to go to the bank to deposit it. After all, as mentioned above, mobile payments are rampant, and many merchants only accept payment by scanning QR codes. Sometimes they carry a hundred-yuan bill to buy vegetables, and the stall owners don’t have enough change to get it back.

When I left my job and prepared to go to the next company, I discovered that the former employer’s cash salary was actually for tax evasion. If you don’t use company accounts to pay salaries, you don’t need to explain the origin of the money, and naturally you don’t have to pay social security and provident funds for your employees.

I also encountered great trouble when I joined the next company. Since my salary was paid in cash in the past year, there was no way to form a bank salary flow, and there was no way to prove my past salary to the next company. There is even no way to prove whether I really formed a labor relationship with the previous company.

After many twists and turns, I finally joined a formal company. Five social insurance and one housing fund are paid on a monthly basis, and my salary will be paid to my bank card on a regular basis every month. Although the happiness of losing a few cash every month, I am still very fortunate to have escaped from that small company that is full of pits.

It is said that many small businesses still use cash wages to evade taxes. I can only say that everyone must keep their eyes open when looking for a job and don’t be fooled like me.

Every Chinese New Year, my family’s cash flows between deposits and withdrawals

Strings | 35 years old product manager

The last time I came into contact with cash should be when my child’s 3rd birthday. At that time, the red envelopes that grandparents and grandparents gave were all cash, which could be directly given to the children.

Except for the child’s birthday, it is the New Year. Thinking about it now, it seems that the time of Chinese New Year every year is the time when I see the most cash in a year.

Our family’s annual New Year’s practice is to give each parent a red envelope, and the amount of red envelopes is generally 2,000 yuan per person. Then give 500 yuan each to grandma, grandma and children. But we usually don’t have any money in our salary card, so it’s all in Alipay or wealth management products. So just wait for the salary for the month of the New Year and get it after it is paid.

The salary payment date of my previous work unit was on the 9th, and it was basically paid before the Chinese New Year. But last year was approaching the New Year, and I changed my job, and I could only get half a month’s salary in that month of the New Year, and of course there was no year-end bonus. Then I had to go and take away those thousands of dollars.

I remember very clearly that I first transferred the money in Alipay to the salary card, and then took the salary card to the bank ATM to withdraw the money. At that time, it seemed that I could only get 2,000 yuan at a time. Anyway, I got it back and forth 3 times or 4 times.

After the New Year, put the money in red envelopes to the old people.

Of course, the old people will also prepare red envelopes for us and our children. In this way, we give the money we have gone, and we will give it back after a round. Because I can’t spend cash at all, I have to go to the bank again after receiving the money and deposit the money back into the bank card.

Maybe on these occasions, cash red envelopes are more ceremonial. Especially the old people, they will feel that the New Year, birthday, these festivals to give children red envelopes is a very auspicious blessing.

In fact, many times I don’t think it is necessary to take this ritual sense, but even though I don’t think it is necessary, I walk every year in accordance with the usual practice.

Sending cash red envelopes is the only way for me to follow the people

Bubble | 28-year-old employee of Dachang

Ma Weiwei said in “The Story of Strange Flowers”, “Men’s money is the world’s robbery of single dogs.” I agree with this view too much. At that time in college, the angry young people felt that the bad habit of followers shouldn’t be abolished? How can affection be measured by money? Isn’t it more mindful to make your own gifts?

So in the first two years after graduation, some classmates and colleagues said on WeChat, “I am getting married, come here sometime.” My first reaction must be a blessing, and then I asked myself “Do you want him to be there when I get married?” If yes If it is negative, I will not go, let alone WeChat transfer.

Later, I set up a principle myself, that is: The kind of money that needs WeChat transfers must not follow, and people must be present and give cash red envelopes.

Think about it, everyone is so busy now, all in the world, and you can lay down your work and catch a plane to attend a wedding, what kind of feelings it must be. So I shot it, it was a big red envelope, which was delivered well and opened even better.

Last year, when a girlfriend of more than ten years got married, I wrapped a big cash red envelope to surprise my girlfriend.

In fact, when I first started, I also planned to give a gift. I even started to study what to give her a month in advance, and sew a cross stitch. Who likes young people now? Silk quilt? It is impossible not to buy a quilt. How about giving a necklace? It’s too expensive to buy, and cheap is not suitable… Then I discovered that it is really too difficult to pick a gift! Why don’t you pack a 1,000 yuan red envelope? Buy it yourself.

Later, my girlfriend told me that she wanted to tell me not to prepare gifts. She didn’t lack anything, but she didn’t want to distract me, so she didn’t say anything. So when I handed the red envelope to her, her expression was really surprised, and jokingly said that this was the most tangible gift she had received.

In fact, many times, gifts are just a form of cash. Isn’t it better to look at it?

*The image of the title and the accompanying image of the text are from Visual China.In the text, Yangyang, Coco, Xiaowen, Chen Pan, Strings, and Bubbles are all pseudonyms

*Disclaimer: In any case, the information or opinions expressed in this article do not constitute investment advice to anyone.

Abdullah Abdul-Gawad and the “tiny” excavator. Photo: BI

But what happened five days later is quite the opposite.

Ever Given – a container ship the size of a skyscraper was stranded on the banks of the canal on March 23. And Abdul-Gawad’s boss immediately called him to the scene.

“We need you to get in the car and come now because you are the only excavator driver nearby,” the leader told the 28-year-old male employee, who has been driving the excavator since college.

Abdul-Gawad vs “monster”

Liberating Ever Given was a combined effort, with winch, tugboat and excavator. But Abdul-Gawad was the one who really faced the problem. Once at the base of the ship, Abdul-Gawad had no choice but to start digging.

According to his estimates, the bow of Ever Given was stuck below about 6 meters of ground. The stern is also caught on the opposite shore. The ship blocked the Suez Canal, blocking all traffic.

The image of a tiny excavator facing a giant ship made many people laugh. But for Abdul-Gawad the situation is much less humorous. It is really dangerous.

The dreadful contrast between the size of the Ever Given ship and the size of Abdul-Gawad’s excavator. Photo: BI

Taking on the task of shoveling to release the bow, just a small mistake by Abdul-Gawad could cause the ship carrying tens of thousands of containers to collapse.

“I was afraid that the ship would be too tilted on one side or the other. If it leans on me, goodbye the excavator, goodbye Abdul-Gawad.

If you see the contrast between the size of the ship and the size of the excavator, you will find it very frightening. ”

Two other excavators were dispatched to the scene a few days later, but the drivers were too scared to do what Abdul-Gawad was doing. Instead, they were just sticking around clearing the rock that Abdul-Gawad dug.

21 hours / day

Wearing thin flip flops, Abdul-Gawad undertook digging for hours. When the tugs are active, Abdul-Gawad will receive a radio signal to temporarily retreat away.

“But you know, until I dig 5 or 6 meters, there’s still no movement.”

Photo: BI

When pictures of Abdul-Gawad’s excavator began to appear on the Internet, he said he felt as if “people were just making fun of me.”

“And that’s what made me more determined. I think, you’re making fun of me so I’ll prove I can do this. ”

Abdul-Gawad said that for several days, he and his colleagues were only allowed to rest at a barracks of border guards nearby.

“They know that if we go home, we won’t be back in about eight or nine hours,” he said.

Abdul-Gawad and his colleagues only slept about three hours a night. One day, only one hour of sleep.

Success

On March 25, a dedicated dredger – Mashhour – participated in the rescue effort Ever Given. Abdul-Gawad’s job at this time was to move soil, rock and sand from the bow of the ship to another place, while the Mashhour knocked silt off the canal.

This concerted effort – with the help of a high tide – brought hopeful signs the next day. And finally, the campaign was successful on March 29. The image of the Ever Given boat escaping made all the workers shout, and the tugboats honk to celebrate.

Abdul-Gawad said he and his colleagues were “half alive from exhaustion.”

“We were pushed to our limits,” said Abdul-Gawad. “But the moment we saw Ever Given off to sea, all fatigue seemed to vanish.”

Field survey officials. Photo: BI

Scary silence

The Suez Canal is a source of pride in Egypt, being called “Egypt’s Gift to the World” on billboards when it expanded in 2015.

President of Egypt – Abdel Fattah el-Sisi declared: “The Egyptians have ended the crisis of the ship stranded Ever Given despite all difficulties.”

But Abdul-Gawad said he hardly attended any of the celebrations. Apart from a small ceremony held by a newspaper, Abdul-Gawad received little or no official recognition for his role.

“I was invited to a ceremony, where they honor the people who took the ships out to sea.” But it is primarily intended for Suez Canal Authority employees, not including Abdul-Gawad because he works for a subcontractor.

Invitations were also sent to Abdul-Gawad at the last minute only. Because the celebration took place in a city four hours away by car. And Abdul-Gawad received an invitation an hour and a half earlier.

Abdul-Gawad said he felt deeply hurt.

“The Suez Canal Authority patted himself on the chest that they have done a great job. But in the end, without an excavator, the ship wouldn’t go anywhere. It can still get stuck. ”

Image of the jam seen from satellite. Photo: Maxar

In an interview on April 8, Abdul-Gawad said that he and his colleagues still have not received overtime pay, even though they work more than 21 hours a day.

However, Abdul-Gawad said he will look back on those extraordinary days with pride.

“This is an achievement,” he said. “At first it was an achievement for Egypt, but it was also an achievement for me. This event can only happen once in my life. Twice at most. It is something to be proud of.”

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