Free Web NovelChapter 157: Chapter 157: Handling the Deposits
"President Wu, since your company opened its dedicated account, you haven’t touched the majority of the deposits. I was wondering how you plan to use these funds. Are you looking to purchase financial products or put them into fixed-term deposits?"
Wu Yun understood Zeng Guangrong’s intentions. Recalling the future financial meltdowns surrounding shared bike deposits, an idea began to form.
"President Zeng, we can deposit all of our funds into your branch. We’re even open to purchasing other products through you. But I need a guarantee!"
Zeng Guangrong grew excited, his face flushing. He had been closely following the development of the shared bike industry for some time.
He knew that Little Red Car had deployed a massive number of shared bikes in five cities, and the market wasn’t even saturated yet.
Those few cities alone accounted for ten million users. If Little Red Car expanded into every provincial capital and major city in the future, wouldn’t they have at least one hundred million registered users?
The total deposits wouldn’t be a mere three billion, but thirty billion, or even more!
’If the guarantee Wu Yun is asking for isn’t too far outside the regulations,’ he thought, ’I, Old Zeng, can just hold my nose and agree. And for anything I don’t have the authority for, I can always file a report!’
If Wu Yun knew what Zeng Guangrong was thinking, he would have laughed out loud. He had to thank President Zeng for his wild imagination.
"President Wu, what kind of guarantee do you need?" Zeng Guangrong sat up straight, adopting an attitude of serious attention.
"It’s actually very simple." Wu Yun glanced at Tan Shu and another young person Zeng Guangrong had brought with him.
Zeng Guangrong took the hint. "Xiaowu, Xiaotan, you two go settle the bill for now!"
After Tan Shu and Xiaowu left the private room and closed the door, Zeng Guangrong made a gesture for him to speak.
"President Zeng, please forgive my caution. What I’m about to say involves our company’s confidential information and development plans. I’m telling you this today because I trust you."
"I’m sure you have a general understanding of our shared bike company’s profit model by now, President Zeng."
Zeng Guangrong nodded and said with a laugh, "President Wu, I’m only just now figuring it out. The main goal of shared bikes is the massive pool of deposits and the huge number of registered users, isn’t it! With those, the company’s valuation is bound to skyrocket!"
Wu Yun nodded. The shared bike model was simple. Other industries had operated this way before, just not with such a large volume of deposits. You could say that shared bikes popularized the deposit model, making it familiar to many later on.
There were still a year or two before the meltdown. If he played his cards right, this could become a powerful weapon for Wu Yun to use against his rivals.
"President Zeng, you probably also know that our initial investment was only in the tens of millions. The subsequent payments for the bikes have all been covered by customer deposits! Of course, our company hasn’t been too obvious about it. We’ve only used one-tenth of the deposits!"
"But I believe that with the interest from the huge deposit pool, income from financial products, and revenue from rides, we’ll be able to cover the deposit shortfall in the near future and achieve a balanced budget, or even turn a profit!"
Anyone could talk a big game; it just depended on how appealing the picture they painted was.
It seemed Zeng Guangrong was buying it. He asked with a cheerful laugh, "In that case, President Wu, what guarantee do you need from us at ICBC?"
"I hope you can keep what I’m about to say to yourself, President Zeng. Based on our extensive investigations and analysis of our competitors’ practices, we strongly believe that if there’s a financial meltdown involving shared bike deposits, it will most likely start with Little Yellow Car! By our estimates, Little Yellow Car has already misappropriated more than half of its deposits!"
"President Zeng, just think! If a problem suddenly erupts in the industry and customers start frantically demanding refunds, and Little Yellow Car can’t plug that hole in their finances, what do you think will happen?"
Wu Yun’s brief words sent a shiver down Zeng Guangrong’s spine. At that point, the industry would undergo a major reshuffle, and the bank president holding Little Yellow Car’s deposits would inevitably get caught in the fallout.
Zeng Guangrong was, after all, just the president of a major branch. He had little experience handling such severe business crises and was momentarily flustered. Yet, he was still salivating over Little Red Car’s massive cash flow, leaving him caught in a dilemma.
Wu Yun just smiled, took a sip of tea, and said nothing.
Beside them, Li Qiuliang offered a reassuring smile. "President Zeng, please rest assured. According to the development strategy we’ve laid out, we will never misappropriate more than one-fifth of the deposits. This way, whether it’s for cash flow or crisis management, we will remain as solid as a rock."
Wu Yun chimed in, "Which is why I need guarantees. First, that ICBC can grant our transfer account the necessary permissions to ensure that, in the event of such an incident, our users’ deposits can be withdrawn at any time. I’m talking about a majority of users all at once!"
Even for a bank, moving tens of billions would take some time to process.
Zeng Guangrong nodded in understanding. After all, in the face of such a major public incident, the pressure on the bank would be immense. If Little Red Car tried to shift the blame to ICBC, claiming the bank had misappropriated the deposits and couldn’t transfer them out, the consequences would be dire.
Of course, this was a low-probability event. As the Cosmic Bank, they were confident they could produce a mere few billion at a moment’s notice.
"Not a problem, President Wu. Our bank can easily meet that guarantee!"
However, Zeng Guangrong was certain that this wasn’t the only guarantee Wu Yun wanted.
As expected, Wu Yun continued with a smile, "Second, in the event of a deposit crisis, I need ICBC to quickly issue a statement certifying that our company’s deposits are held in a dedicated account for their specified purpose, and that the users’ funds are being monitored."
Zeng Guangrong naturally agreed. Helping Wu Yun was also helping himself. "No problem! President Wu, I can file a report for that one as well. We can sign an agreement once it’s approved!"
Wu Yun knew his requests weren’t excessive; they were mostly matters within Zeng Guangrong’s authority.
"And third... of course, this is unlikely to happen... but if Little Red Car were ever faced with a situation where all users demand a refund and we haven’t yet covered the original deposit shortfall, I hope ICBC could provide timely assistance, such as a loan. But again, that’s highly unlikely, since we strictly regulate the use of our deposits!"
Zeng Guangrong pondered for a moment before asking, "President Wu, a loan is possible, but what would you use as collateral?"
Wu Yun’s right fingers tapped a steady rhythm on the tabletop. He smiled and said, "Company shares! Judging from our company’s data, we already have the potential to become a unicorn. Besides, we aren’t a purely internet-based company; our vast fleet of shared bikes are also company assets."
Zeng Guangrong’s expression turned serious. After a moment of silence, he spoke slowly, "President Wu, for that one, I’ll have to report it to my superiors. We’ll also need to conduct an evaluation of your company before making a decision. I hope you understand."
Wu Yun picked up his wine glass and stood up. "Fine, no problem! If it gets approved, I hope we can include all these terms in the agreement. As for the subsequent handling of the deposits, both our sides can dispatch professional teams to negotiate the details!"
"Of course! President Wu, President Li, I hope we have a pleasant partnership!"
"To a pleasant partnership! Bottoms up!"
