Is Tencent raising its game with its credit score system?

All eyes are now on Tencent’s credit score system. But what exactly does this mean for Tencent and its nemesis, Alibaba?

Tencent’s credit score system is stealing the limelight even as onlookers anticipate Alibaba’s monthly update of its Sesame Credit. Tencent is granting some of its users access to its credit score system in the run-up to “8.8 cashless days.” This is Tencent’s latest bid to get a slice of China’s US$5.5 trillion mobile payments market.

Only QQ super members are eligible to view their credit score for the time being. This means users must pay at least 20 yuan to view their credit score. Tencent’s strategy is similar to Alibaba’s Sesame Credit back in 2015.

Accessing Tencent’s credit score is an obscure process. Users must first take note of the “Tencent credit” public number. After selecting “my credit”, users will need to enter the name and identity number. The corresponding credit score then appears; it lies within the range of 300 to 850.

This is just another chapter in the intense battle between Alibaba and Tencent

Tencent and Alibaba have been in a longstanding dispute over payment matters. But Alibaba is advancing much faster when it comes to the credit score system. In January 2015, Ant Financial Services (蚂蚁金服) officially launched the Sesame Credit score. Over the years, it has access to more services – accommodation, travel, consumption, and loans. These rapid changes make many users pay attention to Sesame Credit’s monthly updates.

Tencent has been going all out to promote WeChat payment and QQ wallet. But it has been relatively cautious when it comes to personal credit. As early as 2015, Tencent has become one of the first batches of personal credit licensing units in the Central Bank. Its credit score system’s official website has been inactive for several years.

Tencent’s credit inquiry has been kept on such low profile allegedly thanks to “Pony” Ma Huateng.

“Isn’t such product buying and selling of personal data?” Ma retorted when he was approached by the person-in-charge of the Tencent’s credit inquiry. Ma then demanded that the distribution of the product be stopped for “protecting user’s privacy.”

Ma’s views appear to have changed. In his speech at last year’s Tencent Cloud summit, he mentioned that “Tencent will keep a long-term record of every user’s credit” to protect the rights and interests of its partners.

The absence of a credit system has always been an obstacle to WeChat’s expansion in China. Establishing an in-house credit scoring system is an imperative.

Chinese consumers are more concerned about the actual utility of Tencent’s credit score system

A user’s credit score is broken down into five categories – social index, safety index, wealth index, performance index, and consumption index. These criteria are similar to Sesame Credit’s.

Tencent and Alibaba have their own characteristics and advantages when formulating their own credit systems. Alibaba’s credit data is mainly based on the large number of e-commerce transactions and the addition of financial products such as Yu’ebao (余额宝), which is more heavily weighted towards data from Internet finance.

Alibaba is less adroit when it comes to social networking features. Alibaba has worked hard over the years but the results are not always satisfactory. The latest incident was the “Circles” event. Alipay attracted an uproar when it intended to use the Sesame Credit to enter the high-end dating market. Alipay then pivoted back to focus on payment mode and finance.

Social networking is Tencent’s natural niche thanks to QQ and WeChat. WeChat has nearly 900 million monthly active users while QQ has more than 860 million monthly active users. This can provide a large number of continuous and traceable user behaviour data for Tencent. In its introduction page, Tencent credit mentioned that the user's friendships and his circle of friends are also a factor in measuring one’s credit score.

Tencent does not have the same electronic business platform that Tmall and Taobao have. These platforms can help obtain consumption data. The evaluation of the user’s consumption index mainly comes from Tencent mobile QQ, WeChat payment, and shopping behaviour. Tencent may have access to JD.com’s consumption data thanks to QQ’s and WeChat’s connections with the e-commerce company. This means greater prospect of opening up “small credit” with JD.com.

An average user is more concerned about the practicalities of the credit score. Tencent’s credit score system has limited application for the moment as it is launched not too long ago. Aside from micro credit loan products and Everbright Bank credit card application, other functions such as mobile phone repair and car insurance instalment payment are not the average user’s concern. “Mobike deposits” are capturing substantial attention even though nothing concrete has been unveiled.

How Tencent’s credit score system can sharpen its competitive edge remains up in the air

Bike-sharing companies, including Ofo and BlueGogo, have introduced the Sesame Credit to waive off deposit fees. Mobike is unlikely to tap on the Sesame Credit thanks to Tencent. Mobike’s 299 yuan security deposit continues to draw heavy criticism. Users stand to gain if their accumulated points could leverage on Tencent credit to waive off deposit fee.

Tencent credit score can also be increased through supplementary work and education information. This is not too different from Alibaba’s Sesame Credit. But Tencent risks attracting the lawbreakers’ attention as its application scenarios expand in the future. Ant Financial once refuted the “swiping scores” claim by insisting that the so-called “gaining points” method is implausible. Tencent risks facing the same fate; it must be ready for this.

Tencent and Alibaba are waging a new battle in the credit score scene. But it remains uncertain whether Tencent, who has a slower start than Alibaba, can still wield the similar counter attack move it did with its WeChat payment years ago.

追求成功，活出精彩

每个人在一生中都有很多目标。从小的说起，比如在周末之前清理完车库，到取得改变生命的成就，像是在10年内存到2万美元这样。

只要相信成功，你的精神力量将会帮助你完成目标，作为它的衍生品，你能通过鼓励别人对你的信任来建立一个支持系统。

不要仅仅是熟记。事实上，这个方面可以少做点，但是你要加强自身创造性思维的能力。

通过现实记忆，你能掌握一些信息，并把它们储存在大脑中便于日后的回忆。但是这些记忆中的许多事件最终都会变得如同车库里的破旧盒子般：只在你需要的时候才捡起它们。

另一方面，创造性思维则专注于寻找创新的解决方案。这意味着要提出新的、改进的方法来处理任何问题或挑战。

尽管记忆事实本身很重要，但是创造性思维给了我们快速且有效地克服任何障碍的能力。现实记忆使我们的大脑变得呆滞不堪;而创造性思维却使我们的大脑具有适应性和灵活性。

这意味着成功人士总是专注于提高他们的创造性思维，而不是仅仅去尝试记住事实。

你可以用这三种行动来激发创造性思维:接受新思想，尽可能多地抓住尝试新事物的机会，每天早上花十分钟来反思这个问题，“我今天怎么才能做得更好呢?”

有种办法，可以让你通过多样化的生活方式来促进这三种行为，做各种各样展现自己不同个性的工作。

交优秀的朋友

你可能很熟悉“人如其食”这句话，这意味着如果你想拥有一个健康的身体，你应该遵循健康的饮食习惯。同样的想法也适用于你的心态:你的思维方式会对你所看到和听到产生影响。你的生活环境，朋友，你所阅读的文章都会影响你的思维过程。

例如，长时间与喜欢说流言蜚语的人交往会更容易使你变得八卦。相反，与那些只对别人说积极的话语的人长期相处会让你也变得和他们一样。

没错，你正被与你交往的人影响着呢。

你要让周围充满优秀的人才，他们不仅仅有雄心壮志而且相信你的梦想，并认为你能最终能实现它们。你身后有这样的力量来支撑，你就能沿着通往成功的或许带些荆棘的漫漫长路上前进。

保持积极向上的态度

一个保持积极向上的心态的方法是确保你做了在道德上你认为是正确的事情。当人们做一些有悖道德的事情时，比如对某个重要的人撒谎，或是对朋友不问自取时，这会使你内疚，并侵蚀着你的内心。这些负面的想法总是伴有一个恶劣的态度。另一方面，对自己的决定感到快乐和舒适，会建立更多的信任，从而维持你更好的心情。

但最重要的是，没有什么能像相信你在生活中所做的事情是重要的并且有价值的那样让你拥有一个积极的态度。自然而然，这会成为你永久的信心来源，让你毫无理由怀疑自己。

消灭恐惧

“恐惧都源自于你的思想”这个观点，经常被用来帮助人们来克服他们对接近某些情况不明事件的犹豫。

正如我们的免疫系统需要适当的营养来发挥作用，我们的信心需要持续的支持，以确保它尽可能可靠和有效。

一个建立信任的最好方法是什么？开始表现自信，即使你感觉不到。起初，这将很难维持，但随着时间的推移，就变得自然了。这是因为你可以按照你想要的方式来控制自己的情绪。

接受失败亦是生活的一部分

成功的人在面对挫折后会振作起来。当失败者忙于为他们失败寻找借口时，成功的人正在掸去灰尘，寻找并尝试另一种方法。

每一个成功的人都会遇到同样的问题比如反对、气馁、挫折和不幸的个人遭遇，正是这些处理挑战的方式使他们变得出类拔萃。

Mindset change impacts lives and success

People with a fixed mindset hinder their development due to their belief in “natural” talents and their adherence from failure. People with a growth mindset perceive challenges as an opportunity to achieve their dreams. 

Fixed mindset

Many people believe talent is the most important aspect of a person’s abilities. They believe that a person’s talents are set from the moment they were born; a person is, naturally, either intelligent and talented or stupid and inefficient, and this is unchangeable.

Companies such as Enron and McKinsey adopt this way of thinking. Their HR departments invest large sums of funds into searching for these “naturals” at schools. These hired graduates are expected to immediately boost the company’s results with their abilities. Since these graduates are expected to know it all, they receive little to no training and do not have any career progression.

As a result, their performance is evaluated critically and constantly. This invokes the question: Are these graduates as smart as they appear or will their mistakes eventually reveal their lack of talent to finish the job?

Employment under fixed mindset

Employers with this mindset believe employees who are not perfect from Day 1 will never improve, hence, it would be more business-sound to fire them. Furthermore, such employers believe that people should only do things they have a natural ability for. As they are quick to determine whether people are good or bad at something, they assume they themselves are being judged as well.

Real life examples of both mindsets 

Those with a fixed mindset seek validation from other people, while those with a growth mindset seek progress. For example, Lee Iacocca, CEO of Chrysler Motors, only rose to his position when it was on the verge of closure. Fortunately, with the help of his decision-making skills and good judgement of people, the company rose to its current pinnacle.

However, his actions changed after the company’s huge success. He became dependent on the number of awards he had, boasting his high position in the company and channelling his energy into his image than the company’s development. Eventually, he relied on others’ approval of him to survive.

Iacocca demonstrated a fixed mindset. Others’ opinions of him mattered more than the company’s progress. He seeks to appear smart and gifted in front of people, instead of coming up with plans to improve his company.

Another contrasting example would be that of Lou Gerstner. Gerstner became CEO of IBM when it was closing down. Bogged down with a fixed mindset, much time and energy were wasted on internal conflicts instead of working and planning together. Every man for himself, this thinking would eventually lead to its downfall.

Subsequently, Gerstner dissolved the company’s hierarchies and built on teamwork, encouraging peer support within teams. With added communication platforms within the company, he lowered his position to that of his employees and this allowed him to have personal interactions with his workers.

Gerstner’s growth mindset allowed to him to create a conducive working environment. This pulled the focus away from the individual employee’s success and towards shared progress. One for all and all for one, the company thrived.

Fixed mindset versus growth mindset

People with a fixed mindset shun problems; those with a growth mindset embrace and work them.

Many things in life can only be achieved by working hard. When people with a fixed mindset face challenges, they view them only as risks – the more they work on something, the harder their image shatters if they fail it. As such, people with a fixed mindset can never outdo themselves. They fail to doubt their own talents and work on their flaws.

One prime example would be that of Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg. At the age of 10, Nadia was famous for her violin skills. When she turned 18, she held her violin incorrectly and her fingers grew stiffer. She was so afraid of failure she could not learn anything new and eventually, she abandoned the one thing she loved so much.

Actor Christopher Reeve was predicted by doctors, to be paralysed neck down for the rest of his life after his accident. However, his growth mindset allowed him to overcome this and he took hold of his situation. With a stringent and tiring training plan, he made the impossible possible. He could eventually move his entire upper body after practice.

Challenges give people with a growth mindset the opportunity to pursue purpose-filled actions. The more dejected they are, the more energy they put into fighting against – and rewriting – their fate. Like Reeve, they strive to make the impossible possible.

People with a fixed mindset hinder their development due to their belief in “natural” talents and their adherence from failure. People with a growth mindset perceive challenges as an opportunity to achieve their dreams. The more failure they face, the more effort they put in to fight against it. Similar to Reeve, they fight to make the impossible possible. By facing our own failures and working hard, we can realize our potential to the maximum, and develop a growth mindset.

固定性思维模式

有固定思维的人因为相信天生的才能以及他们对失败的恐惧而阻碍了个人的发展。相反，拥有成长心态的人努力工作，刻苦训练，最终能充分发挥他们的潜能。

固定思维

拥有固定思维的人认为天赋是最重要的。在他们看来，一个人的能力是从一开始就形成的；每个人天生就会展现出聪明才智或者冥顽不灵，并且一直保持着这种天性直到最后。

就连安然(Enron)和麦肯锡(McKinsey)这样的大公司,他们的人力资源部门也会投入大量资金，在大学里物色所谓的天才，如此一来，更是具化了这种思维模式。他们期望所雇的毕业生能用出色的能力迅速提升公司的业绩。但由于毕业生本身天赋异凛，也就几乎不怎么接受培训，也不期待在工作中有所进步，抑或快速融入新的角色。

因此，他们的上司不停地对他们进行评价：这些毕业生真的像我们认为的那样聪明吗?如果他们犯错了，他们是否有能力来纠正它?

有固定思维的人认为，从第一天起就做不好的员工是永远也做不好的，所以最好让他们快点走。

此外，拥有固定思维的人相信他们只能够做天生就擅长的事，很难去熟能生巧。甚至他们会对自己和他人的处事好坏做出立刻的判断，同时也会假设其他人也一直在评价他们，因而他们觉得有必要在所得到的每一个机会面前，去显示他们有多么地才华横溢，聪明智慧。

他们认为自己的地位岌岌可危：一旦失足就足以被别人称为终生的庸才，从而不断寻求他人的认可来保护自己脆弱的自尊心，还要确认他们真的像别人想的那样棒。

有固定思维的人寻求认同；有成长心态的人会寻求发展。

真实生活中的例子

克莱斯勒汽车公司(Chrysler Motors)即将倒闭的时候，李•艾科卡(Lee Iacocca)成为了首席执行官。由于他的当机立断以及给员工的良好感觉，使得公司重焕生机。

但在那之后，他突然改变自己的行为，开始止步不前，炫耀自己的优势，除却公司的福利，他把更多的精力投入到自己的形象之中。他唯一的目标变为寻求他人的认可。

显然艾科卡有固定的思维模式。就像他把所有东西归类为“好”或“坏”一样，他觉得别人在审视他，把他当作成功者或失败者。因为他想要成为一个赢家，他试图表现得像个聪明智慧的人，而不去寻找改善公司的方法。

与此形成鲜明对比的是，郭士纳Lou Gerstner，在IBM即将破产的时候接管了它。由于受到固定思维模式环境的困扰，公司在内部分歧上浪费了精力，并不专注于服务与团队合作。每个人都自私自利，只为自己着想；因此，公司没能满足客户的需求。

为了改变这种状况，郭士纳打破了公司的等级制度，强调团队合作，奖励那些支持他们的员工。他还打开了整个公司的沟通渠道，使自己与他的员工处于同一水平。种种这些，使他能够最快地与尽可能多的员工建立联系。

Gerstner的成长性思维使他能够在团队合作和发展的基础上创造一个新的工作环境。焦点从个人的成功转向共同的发展。基于这个概念，他能够在IBM持久的成功。

固定思维与成长思维的区别

有固定思维的人寻求认同;那些有成长心态的人会寻求发展。

有固定思维的人逃避困难，有成长性思维的人享受困难。

生活中有很多事情我们只能努力去实现。然而，当有固定思维的人面临困境时，他们所能看到的只是风险，因为他们投入的时间和精力越多，如果失败了，他们就越难找到借口。另外，他们相信天赋的巨大力量:有天赋的人不应该那么努力。

这种思维方式使有固定思维的人不可能在不质疑自己的天赋的情况下变得更好，因此他们避免了困难的情况。他们不想让自己成为一个傻瓜。

小提琴家Nadja Alerno - Sonnenberg展示了这种行为。10岁时，她已经受到了评论界的好评；到了18岁，由于利用不正确的姿势来拿小提琴，而变得手指僵硬，每次她尝试学习新的东西，她就会害怕失败，她停止了在课堂上演奏小提琴，并避开集体的演奏。

如果演员Christopher有这样一种心态，他将会在他事故后和医生的预测一样，在余生完全会是瘫痪。然而，他有一种成长的心态：他不是被动地接受自己的命运，而是控制了自己的处境。

因此，他接受了一项艰苦的训练计划，然后不可思议的事情发生了:与所有的诊断相反，他移动了他的手，然后他的腿，最后，他的整个上半身。

挑战给人们提供了一个追求目标的机会。他们越是沮丧，他们就越有精力去反抗和改写自己的命运。像Reeve一样，他们努力使不可能成为可能。

有固定思维的人避免困难；那些有成长性思维的人喜欢困难。

有固定思维的人相信天生的才能以及他们对失败的恐惧阻止了个人的发展。相反，拥有成长心态的人努力工作，刻苦训练，最终能充分发挥他们的潜能。面对我们自己的态度和想法，我们需要培养成长性思维。

Finding success, living out your success

Everyone has goals throughout their lives. These range from small tasks, like cleaning out the garage before the weekend, to life-changing achievements, like saving $20,000 in ten years.

By just believing in success, your mental power will shift to help you get the job done, and as a byproduct, you’ll create a support system by inspiring others to place confidence in you.

Don’t just memorise. In fact, do less of it, but increase your creative thinking capabilities

With fact memorization, you learn pieces of information and store them in the brain for recall later. But many of these remembered events end up like old boxes in a garage: you only access them when you need what’s inside.

Creative thinking, on the other hand, is focused on finding innovative solutions. This means crafting new, improved approaches for handling any problem or challenge.

Although memorising facts is important in its right, creative thinking gives us the ability to quickly and efficiently overcome any hurdles we encounter. Fact memorization makes our brains rigid; creative thinking makes our brains adaptive and flexible.

This means that successful people always focus on improving their creative thinking rather than merely trying to remember facts.

You can boost creative thinking with these three actions: be receptive to new ideas, take as many opportunities as possible to try new things, and devote ten minutes each morning to reflecting on the question, “How can I do a better job today?”

One way you can help promote these three actions is by diversifying your lifestyle. You could work on a variety of things that give you different exposure!

Keep quality friends!

You’re probably familiar with the phrase “you are what you eat,” which implies you should follow a healthy diet if you wish to have a healthy body. That same idea applies to your mentality: the way you think is influenced by what you see and hear. Your living space, your friends, what you read influences your thought processes.

For example, prolonged association with people who gossip will make you more likely to gossip. Conversely, prolonged association with people who only speak positively of others will cause you to do the same.

Make no mistake: you are affected by the company you keep.

Surround yourself with the highest quality of friends – those who not only have their ambitions but also believe in your dreams and believe you’re capable of achieving them. Having this support system behind you will keep you motivated along the long, sometimes daunting, path to success.

Keep a positive attitude!

One way to keep a positive attitude is to make sure you’re doing what you believe is morally right. When people do things they don’t feel good about – like lying to a significant other or taking from a friend without asking – it harbours guilt and erodes confidence. These negativities always show up with a bad attitude. Being happy and comfortable with your decisions, on the other hand, builds more trust and therefore sustains your better moods.

But most importantly, nothing provides a positive attitude like believing that what you’re doing in life is important and worthwhile. This will naturally become a perpetual source of confidence, and leave you little reason to ever feel doubt toward yourself.

Destroy fear.

The advice “fear is all in your head” is often given to help people overcome their hesitancy toward entering situations they’re uncertain about.

Just as our immune system needs proper nourishment to function, our confidence needs continuous support to ensure it’s as reliable and efficient as possible.

What is one of the best ways to build trust? Start acting confident – even if you don’t feel it.

At first, this will be difficult to sustain, but over time it’ll become natural. This is because you can manage your emotions by behaving the way you want to feel.

Accept failure as part of life

Successful people bounce back after setbacks. While failures are busy finding excuses for why they failed, successful people are dusting themselves off and looking for another way to try.

Every successful person has encountered the same opposition, discouragement, setbacks and personal misfortunes as failures – but the way they chose to handle these challenges made them the leaders of the pack.

西班牙对外银行，第一资本公司和花旗集团领跑开放式API

西班牙对外银行在标准普尔对美国大型银行开放式API（Application Programming Interface）的评估中脱颖而出。

开放式API允许银行与开发人员共享数据。 在API开放之前，通常的做法是进行“屏幕抓取”，即应用程序登录帐户并从屏幕上得到需要的数据。 这种方式会产生潜在的安全风险，因为此过程中私人帐户信息与应用程序共享。

若美国银行开放API来让开发人员为交易创建独特的令牌，那将无需与应用程序共享用户名和密码。

API可以为银行节省成本，同时使开发人员节省了库开发工作。当然，不利的一面是目前尚未完全实现对应用程序开发的控制。

迄今为止，西班牙对外银行，第一资本公司和花旗集团都提供了易于使用的、具有大量文档和沙盒的平台，可用于在应用程序投入使用之前对其进行测试。

以上为一些在开放式API方面表现突出的机构。希望更多的银行开放API，从而将有助于开发出更多的金融科技应用。

Tips to making things happen in life

It’s normal to be afraid of starting something new, but instead of letting worries run endlessly through your head, get to work. There are ways to unblock your creativity, gain courage and try new things. If you feel stuck, try different approaches in your life or businesses. Actions engender change, and every little step brings you closer to realizing your creative dreams.Overcome fear and procrastination. Stop self-sabotage. Fix your time and define your task. Snap out of sluggish work attitude. Make your task specific. Break them into smaller pieces. Make them present. No point having a goal in 2 years when you can do something today.
Understand that mistakes are just part of the process. Change is also necessary. Conviction and comfort never come together. Feel comfortable? You are likely wasting your life. Embrace change. Find a strong support network.

生活中的小贴士

害怕尝试新鲜的事物是正常的，但是不要让忧虑一直困扰着你，忙起来吧。很多方法都能开发你的创造力，勇于尝试新鲜事物。如果感觉在生活或者工作中被困住了，请试试其他的办法，行动能带来变化，每一步都能让你更接近那充满创造力的梦想，克服恐惧和拖延，别再自我糟践。

调整时间，重定任务，摆脱懒散的工作态度。

细化任务，且把他们分为更小的模块。

现在开始行动起来，不要在你可以现在可以做到某些事情的时候，反而制定了2年的目标，这毫无意义可言。

要明白错误只是过程中的一部分

变化是必要的，信念和舒适从来不会同时出现。现在感觉舒适，有可能就是在浪费你的生命。拥抱改变，快找一个良好并能支持你的网络吧。

数字过载和时间的优化

由于电子邮件和大量的储存空间，你的信息超负荷了。 想象一下，成千上万的记者和编辑每天都在大量地制造大量的信息，阅读，处理并记住细节是毫无可能的。

我们比以前拥有更多的渠道来与陌生人以及我们的同事，进行实时地交流。现在也没有理由不去回应，您的同事可以发送已阅回执，甚至直接在Whatsapp上跟踪蓝色已读标记，如果这还不够，还有一些应用可以追踪你的位置,生活正迅速地变得透明。

当你被要求随时传递某些东西时，工作质量就下降了，且其使得工作逐渐失去控制。很难和老板或是同事为什么你需要更多的时间，且他们很容易就在谷歌上面知道相关的信息。但是这个也是关键所在。每个人都可以在互联网上面获取信息。所谓的内容管理并不存在。考虑每一条信息是否可以合理存续都需要花费时间。

下面有些简单的方法来缓解这个超负荷的信息量所带来的问题， 且能更好的选择你需要的信息，让我们一起来看看。

保持邮箱的干净，你不需要1000封邮件。整理邮箱，并且把重复的邮件清除。 尽量避免打印。用一个简单的工具来保存和分类。 可以试下Evernote或者Microsoft的便签。又或者简单地创建更多的邮箱文件夹。但是记住让你的收件箱邮件维持在最低的数量。

尽量不做代办事项清单。做任务清单从来不会给你优先考虑 的时间。充其量， 它只能让你想起大量且没有完成的工作，认真地保留一个或者两个任务 。专注于大的方向和其他事情一起跟进，我之前也尝试做快的小的任务，比如这个任务只需要2分钟或者更少的话那就先做这个小任务。然而在我看来，这个效率很低，切换任务很费时间，又不轻松。

使用密码管理器或者其他任何的密码工具 ，记住与回想密码是一件痛苦的事情。如果你借用一个系统来记，可以节省很多的时间。

写的的简单点。 使用主动的语态，用最简单的可能的方式说你需要说的，把你的形容词和描述都收起来。

阅读高度编排的资源。我只读华尔街日报、金融时报和其他可信的大众媒体，不是我想成为一个媒体的势利小人。但是如果内容能满足我而且我的时间有限的话，我会选择编排的更好的资源。

没有工作的动力-最好的动力来自于内部

你有没有想过为什么你非常想要一份好工作？是因为想要获得可观的薪水吗？还是想要获得为您的家人提供美好生活的能力？

也许这里有一个更基本的原因：幸福。实现幸福的理念是一个中心动力。但是，在我们认为是通往幸福的道路 - 积累物质和追求金钱收益 - 最后往往变成一个死胡同。实际上，丰厚的薪水和新的保时捷并不能保证幸福。所以我们不应该靠外部的力量，比如金钱，来培养长期的动力。

例如，假设如果你今天比平时多写了15封电子邮件，那么你的老板就会承诺给你你400美元的一次性奖金。你接受了这个提议并拿到现金。但是，如果没有了额外的现金奖励，你明天还会如此疯狂地工作吗？

这正是笔者所建立的测试。在2013年的实验中，笔者为英特尔负责组装芯片的员工提供了额外的资金，英特尔是美国的主要技术公司。他们所要做的就是承诺达到一定的配额，然后将在一天开始的时候得到这笔钱。

这种激励起了作用。但是在第二天，以及之后的日子里，他们的生产力就恢复了正常水平。他们不再收到任何额外的钱，所以没有理由继续更好更快地工作。

外部激励因素是不可持续的。只有当我们受到自己内部的某些激励，我们才能从中获得纯粹的享受，那么我们才能够长期坚持努力。

例如，在上述实验中，员工也被告知，如果他们在某一天完成的工作超过了一定单位数量，他们将收到一份简单的“做得好”的文字。这些收到激励的参与者，他们能够比平时做更多的芯片。

在接下来的两天中，他们的产量略低于之前的水平，但仍然超过了货币激励后第二天和第三天的产量。驱使他们做到这样的，是因为“做得好”的赞美给了他们与目的相关并推动事情发展的内在动力。

动力可以从许多不同的地方得到，但驱动人们实现的主要力量是意义。我们从需要投入大量努力的活动中获得意义感，掌握一个项目的所有权并达成重大目标。

百度评级面临降级风险

By Sarah Chen and Alex Lew 

百度评级可能下调

根据国际评级机构惠誉5月31日宣布，中国互联网技术巨头百度将被纳入 "负面观察" 名单, 惠誉声称对百度旗下日益增长的影子银行业务表示担忧, 这将可能导致他的评级下调，并且惠誉提到仍会持续观察百度名下这些发展迅速的影子信贷业务。

国内信贷扩张迅速

时下，国内信贷的迅速张与多样化投资选择的匮乏, 以及市面上大大小小的金融公司的大力宣传和推波助澜，琳瑯满目的理财产品实在让人应接不暇，心动非凡，导致个人、银行以及公司很轻易就将过剩的现金投资于影子信贷产品, 尤其是理财产品 (WMPs)。但是大部分理财产品的资金去向，风险监控及评估机制等仍然存在着很大的问题，所以作为投资者，并不是在购买了理财产品后，就能高枕无忧，享受产品经理告知的稳固收益，在投资前，你若没有擦亮眼睛谨慎选择，还是会有上当受骗的风险，比如近日，美的下属集团就陷入一场理财骗局，涉及资金多达到10亿人民币，幸而发现及时，涉案人员现已抓捕归案，部分资金也已收回，受损资金还在可控范围内，因此损失还不大。

投资理仍需谨慎

前面之所以谈到的理财投资需谨慎，是因为你要清楚，购买理财产品的收益，是在集合所有购买资金后，再由金融公司投入到货币市场，债券，企业贷款等等当中从而实现收益。作为消费者，你必须清楚了解理财产品的七大风险：市场风险、通货膨胀风险、信用风险、流动性风险、操作管理风险、信息传递风险、以及政策风险，因而你得评估理财产品的实际风险与实际收益，如果这之间的差异在你可以接受的范围之内，再考虑购买。

影子银行业务过多

现在国内的主要搜索引擎百度 (wmp) 通过迅速扩大其金融服务集团来进入这场游戏, 惠誉表示, 百度的整体业务风险正在增加。根据百度2017年季度财报显示的数据，百度在理财及小额贷款等金融业务总资产为250亿元，相当于百度总资产的12%，而在2016年底，该资产规模仅为120亿元，这表明，在一个季度内，百度的金融资产已经翻了一番，在这种情况下，由于涨势过快，百度的理财产品参与的融资项目大多良莠不齐，这其中很多无法从银行获得贷款的公司却能从百度金融这边得到贷款，而且百度的运营的时间不长，整体风险仍然很高，如此种种都会引起百度财务状况的波动。

核心业务利润下滑

据百度2017年第一季财报显示，百度收入168.9亿人民币（25.5美元），同比增长6.8%。其中移动收入占到总收入的70%，较2016年一季度60%的水平有所上升，营业利润为20.1亿人民币（2.9亿美元），同比下滑9.3%。净利润为17.8亿人民币（2.6亿美元），同比下滑10.6%，这其中百度核心业务（搜索与交易服务）的非美国通用会计准则（non-GAAP）营业利润率为26.2%，交易服务令百度核心业务的非美国通用会计准则运营利润率下降16.8%，因爱奇艺下降了10.6%。

曾经身陷医疗丑闻

百度一直都在向移动网络方向靠拢，然而就在去年，因为魏则西医疗事件，百度还一度陷入丑闻当中，因为收取了医疗广告费用，让可疑的医院排名靠前，致使一个大学生因诊治无效而身亡。该事件过后，百度的营业额直接损失了20亿。

不稳定性仍然较强

并且如果其销售的任何理财产品（WMPs ）未能达到其目标回报率或产生违约的情况, 将特别损害公司的声誉，从而增加更多不稳定性，惠誉表示“与中国的银行一样, 百度不需要在其理财产品业务（WMPs ）的潜在违约率上预留大笔资金.....所以理财产品业务（WMPs ）变成项目或投资的一种替代形式, 无法取得银行的贷款资格。”穆迪警告，百度大规模扩张的金融业务将可能导致现金的大量流失。

Digital overload and ways to maximise the use of time

With emails and cheap storage, you are overloaded with information. Just imagine the thousands of reporters and editors churning tons of information on a daily basis. It is impossible to read, process, and remember details anymore.

We also have more channels than ever before to communicate with strangers and colleagues on a real time basis. There is now no excuse not to respond. Your colleagues can send read receipts, and they can even track your “blue ticks” on Whatsapp. If this is not enough, there are apps to track your location. Life is fast becoming transparent.

When you are asked to deliver something at a moment’s notice, you sacrifice quality of work. This leads to a gradual loss of control. It’s no longer easy to explain why you need more time. Bosses and customers know the information is easily available on Google. But that is precisely the point. 

Everyone can churn information on the internet. The curation process is non-existent. It takes time to consider which pieces of information continue to be valid.

There are some simple ways to mitigate information overload. Be very selective on the information you keep. Let go.

Keep a clean email policy. You don’t need 1000 emails. Sort out emails and eliminate duplicates. Try not to print. Use a simple tool to save and sort content. Try Evernote, or Microsoft One Note. Or simply create more email folders. But always keep your inbox down to the bear minimum.

Avoid to-do lists. To-do lists never ever give you a sense of priority. At best, it remembers you of the tons of work you have not completed. Conscientiously keep one or two tasks alive. Focus on the big wins and let the rest flow along. I’ve read advices to do small tasks quickly – if it takes 2 mins or less, do it first. This is inefficient in my opinion – task switching is expensive and tiring.

Use lastpass or any password tool. Recalling passwords and retrieving them is a pain. Can’t explain how much time you can save if you use a systematic solution.

Write simply. Use active tense. Say what you need to say in the shortest possible way. Save your adjectives and description for another that should never come.

Read from highly curated sources. I read only from WSJ, FT, and other credible mass media. I’m not trying to be a media snob. But if content is free and my time is limited, I choose to read from places where editorial processes are in place.

Motivation for work – why the lack of it? Is money everything?

Many workers suffer from the lack of motivation. They go to work for money. This is tedious. While money is the simplest motivation, it is not the best.

Motivation is complex. It is a mix of happiness, achievement, pride, fulfillment and more.

You don’t work just for money. Perhaps you work because the job gives you a nice title or because the colleagues are friendly. Money alone is hardly sustainable.

The best form of motivation is meaning. Meaningful work has an achievable goal that benefits others. There is a Greek myth about a King, Sisyphus who was punished for eternity. He had to push a boulder up a hill and once it reached the top, it would roll back down.

No one likes toiling towards unreachable goals. Many simply quit when the task does not seem to be leading anywhere.

Here’s a real life example of an experiment performed on engineers. A group of engineers were asked to build something out of Lego Bionicles. Half of the group liked the task, the other half didn’t like it. Once they completed the task, the robot was dismantled and the engineers were asked to rebuild the robot. After a few rounds, even those who liked the exercise initially gave up.

Ownership of work is also important. The more effort and ownership you give an employee, the harder he will work.

The idea of achieving happiness is a central motivator. In reality, a fat paycheck and a new Porsche don’t guarantee happiness. Therefore, we shouldn’t rely on external forces like money to foster long-term motivation.

In fact, money as the sole motivator will backfire. If you were given an extra sum of money to work 2 more hours, you will no longer work 2 more hours once the sum of money is withdrawn.

In summary, find work that gives you ownership, has meaning to society, is achievable and grants you recognition.

多任务执行通常让你事与愿违

更精确地说，这叫任务转换，这会让你在做事时变得没有效率并且不够完善。

有很多研究都可以证明这一点，这里还包括范德堡大学近来的一份研究报告。

研究者找不到任何有关神经学的证据来解释人类的大脑可以同时接受大于一项任务的工作。

大脑所能做的就是反反复复从一个任务转到另一个任务。它进行地很快从而让你产生同时在进行很多任务的印象，然而实际上它做的却是任务转换。

在任务间转换最终会变得效率低下且浪费时间，因为无论你进行着积极抑或消极的转换，很明显，你都需要停下一边大脑的思考从而来进行另一项任务。

避免自己对所雇员工或同事贡献出自己的时间而影响到已定的计划。

Multitasking is counterproductive

A more accurate name for this method of working is switch tasking, and it is an inefficient and inadequate way of getting things done.

There are plenty of studies to back this up, including a recent one from Vanderbilt University. Researchers couldn’t find a single piece of neurological evidence to suggest that the human brain can take on more than one task at a time.

What the brain can do is switch back and forth, from one task to another. It can do this quickly enough to give you the impression that it is multitasking, but what it is really doing is switchtasking.

Switching between tasks is ultimately inefficient and a waste of time, because whether you are making active or passive switches, you will inevitably need to stop one train of thought to start another.

Avoid interruptions by making yourself available to employees and coworkers at regularly scheduled times.

Visa将正式进入中国

Visa已递交清算牌照申请

Visa正式申请在中国大陆运营。同时，Visa也在印度和欧洲继续推进支付体系的构建和完善。

Visa CEO小阿尔弗雷德·凯利表示，Visa已经于7月19号向中国人民银行递交清算牌照的申请，准备借此机会进入中国大陆市场。在获得运营资格之前，Visa已经在大陆有不少技术方面的投资。凯利同时表示，这些投资和布局是“着眼于长远的”。

“双标卡换单标卡”带来的收益只能算是一般，凯利说，但这的确是Visa需要持续关注的，因为中国的跨境交易分量不小。

“双标卡”的背景

双标卡是具有中国特色的一种信用卡，卡面上同时有银联和外国卡组织的标志。据估算，直至2016年年底，中国的银行总计发行了大约两亿四千张双标信用卡。

银联是中国大陆可以从事人民币清算业务的唯一卡组织。使用双标信用卡在国内消费时，清算走的是银联通道，收取服务费的也是银联。消费者持双标卡在境外消费，或者在国外的电商平台上消费时，人民币清算的过程依然是走银联通道，整个清算过程中银联和外国卡组织分摊服务费。

国际卡组织如Visa和MasterCard早在银联成立的2002年之前就已经进入中国大陆。银联为了在国内清算市场上有立足之地，借着自身的央行和政府背景，和这些国际卡组织所谓“合作”，发行“银联+国际卡组织”的双标信用卡，迅速成为中国大陆一家独大的银行卡转接清算机构。

银联的如意算盘是，自身的背景让银联卡很容易就可以在大陆市场上推行，等到大部分中国人都持有银联卡，同时越来越多的中国人前往海外消费，银联的国际化道路将会非常顺畅。因为银联卡在国内有数以亿计的用户，加上中国人在境外的消费能力不容小觑，国外的商户和银行自然不敢放弃这部分潜在客户，也就会顺理成章接入银联支付清算通道或者加入银联卡组织。

2015年中国银联总裁时文朝透露过银联国际化的三个步骤：第一，中国人走到哪里，银行卡服务到哪里；第二，逐步在当地发卡，为当地人服务；第三，和当地合作伙伴一起成长，为共同持卡人提供增值服务。而这个第一步的基础，就是先要走进绝大部分中国人的钱包，这依靠的就是自己背后的央行和中国政府。

到了2012年，世界贸易组织（WTO）就银联案作出裁决：“中国银联在中国垄断了人民币支付卡的发行和使用。”中国放弃上诉，也就是说接受裁决，承认银联存在论断现象，未来将会逐步开放银行卡清算市场。四年之后的2016年，中国官方才正式宣布中国国内清算市场开放。

银联的如意算盘打得怎么样？其实并没有预计中的好。直至2015年年中，银联海外发卡量只有4700万张，占50亿总发卡量的不足1%。一年后的2016年年中，海外发卡量也只有5500万张。

“双标卡退出市场“未必就是Visa和MasterCard这些国际卡组织的春天来临的信号。根据2016年6月发布的《银行卡清算机构管理办法》，境外机构与境内银行卡清算机构合作授权发行银行卡，应当采用境内银行卡清算机构的发卡行标识代码。境外机构不得通过合作方式变相从事人民币的银行卡清算业务。也就是说，在国际卡组织取得中国国内的清算牌照之前，不得从事人民币转接清算业务。按照现在的情况来看，银联仍然是大陆唯一的人民币清算组织。在中国境内刷国际卡组织的单标卡，清算时走的流程会非常麻烦，先转接外币清算再转接人民币清算，或者刚好收单行和发卡行是同一家银行的时候可以成功刷卡。所以大部分国内商户都没有接入国际卡组织的清算通道，消费者在国内刷单标Visa卡的时候，大多会被POS机提示“此为受限卡”。

为了应对接下来可能涌入的国际卡组织，银联已经开始大举补贴消费者。今年六月，银联同国内四十多家银行合作，举办“62节”（银联单标卡卡号均是62开头），从6月2日到6月8日，在全国40个知名商圈约十万家商户，使用银联云闪付挥卡、手机以及扫码支付，均可享受6.2折优惠。众多电商平台也合作参与了银联的这次补贴大促。

Visa申请清算牌照仅仅是第一步，后续的发展中，Visa需要面对的是一个长期垄断，背景强硬的对手，众多正在涌入的国际卡组织，和正在悄悄兴起的补贴价格战。

Labour shortage Singapore falls behind China in terms of productivity?

China, the most populous nation has moved ahead of Singapore to produce 0 staff retail concept.

Where are we in Singapore given that we are arguably the nation with highest labor shortage and constraint?

Note that we have been talking about labour productivity since decades ago.
Truth is, we cannot allow old ways and mindsets to stop attempts to change. More aggressive restructuring is needed.

Like other convenience stores across China, the shelves of a BingoBox outlet in Shanghai are lined with instant noodles, beer, and bags of traditional snacks such as duck neck. But one thing is missing — the staff. 

Chinese retailers have taken pole position in a race to build unmanned shops, with more than a dozen in operation and hundreds more planned. Meanwhile, the unstaffed Amazon Go store has yet to open to the public. 

The entrance to the BingoBox in Shanghai, a single-aisle affair dropped Tardis-like into a parking lot behind a supermarket, is unlocked by the use of mobile phone app. Customers scan items for payment, with theft prevented by the use of real-name registration and video monitoring. 

No one can predict the financial markets - Invest smart

Ray Dalio, the creator of the renowned investment firm Bridgewater Associates, is considered a superstar of the stock market. But, back in 1971, he learned that no one can know for certain what the future holds.

That year, President Nixon had taken the United States off the gold standard, a move that resulted in the value of the dollar plummeting. Everyone, including Dalio, expected the stock market to take a tumble as well – but it didn't. It soared. And from that moment on, Dalio knew that it was impossible to ever predict anything with absolute certainty.

 You need to search for investment options that will result in the least amount of investment fees and taxes. This may lead you to look at index funds over mutual funds. Index funds don't have managers who charge expensive investment fees.

Instead, they're composed of stocks from an index such as the S&P 500, which includes successful companies like Apple and Microsoft. These stocks are only traded to reflect changes in the composition of the S&P 500, meaning that the shares are held for longer, thereby enabling you to avoid the higher short-term tax rate on gains.

A diverse portfolio will help protect you against changing trends and market crashes. There are four ways you can diversify: across different asset classes; within asset classes; across different markets, countries and currencies; and across time. Adding more than one asset class to your portfolio is a great way to diversify, as is making multiple investments in the same asset class.

Also, remember that the financial markets are global and you should feel free to look beyond your country's borders.

Finally, diversifying your portfolio across time means that you should always be adding capital to your portfolio, whether you do this monthly or yearly. The market is always fluctuating, and you can improve your chances of latching on to a new trend by adding new assets on a regular basis. Look out for investment fees.

Investment fees can be treacherous. 

In fact, if you're not careful, they can end up eating up two-thirds of your earnings. Take an average investment fund, for instance, which charges its clients a 2-percent yearly fee. Now, say that on average the fund delivers a 7-percent return on your investment over 50 years. This means that, after 50 years, every dollar will be worth nearly 30 dollars. With a yearly fee of 2 percent, however, your return is not 7 percent, but 5, and fifty years down the line, each dollar will only be worth just over 10 dollars, instead of 30. This illustrates how disproportionate the impact of investment fees can be! x

The irrational buyer (Adapted)

Cyril Wolf highlighted that pharmacy chains like CVS, Eckerd and Walgreens sometimes put unreasonably high prices on generic drugs such as Ibuprofen. 

Two chain stores, Costco and Sam's Club, sold the generic versions at a significantly lower price than the pharmacies mentioned above.

For instance, a bottle of Prozac pills – $117 at Walgreens – cost $12 at Costco.

Retirees with prescriptions don't compare prices at different stores, but simply assume that the price of generic drugs are consistent across all stores.

Hunting for deals is one thing. But there are also "deals" out there that are complete nonsense.

A two-wing meal, which includes fries and cole slaw, was listed at $3.03, and the three-wing meal cost $4.50. This means that one additional wing cost $1.47. That's more than the first two wings! We can sometimes be suckers for these "deals".