Ant Group’s rectification plan has not yet been released. According to industry insiders, these changes may reveal that Ant will work hard on consumer protection and promoting rational consumption in the future. It is not ruled out that other financial technology platforms will follow suit. .

Huabei Jiebei has taken frequent actions to continuously advocate rational consumption

On November 3 last year, the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Ant Group successively announced that Ant would suspend the simultaneous listing of Ant on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Today, Ant’s IPO has been suspended for more than a hundred days. Although Ant Group rarely made public statements during this period, many changes can be seen from public information.

As the core business of Ant Group, Huabei and Jiebei are the focus of intensive adjustments. Recently, some media revealed that the platform is conducting research on the "loan cooling off period". If the first loan can be regretted within 7 days, the platform will be interest-free for full repayment. In response, Ant Group responded: Jiebei is evaluating feasible solutions for this type of function and hopes to further promote rational lending.

(Users reported that Huabei lowered its quota)

Prior to this, users and the media had successively exposed Huabei and Jiebei’s multiple actions, most of which involved “rational lending.” In December 2020, some netizens posted on social media that their Huabei quota had been reduced, and many netizens reported that the quota had been reduced to less than 3,000 yuan. Media reports said that Huabei is adjusting the quotas of some young users to advocate more rational consumption habits. Ant Group subsequently confirmed the news and stated that it would be cautious in granting credit lines to young users.

(Huabei and Jiebei launched the new function of “self-service management of rational consumption”)

One month later, Huabei and Jiebei launched the new function of “self-service management of rational consumption”. You can adjust the limit, set consumption reminders, close with one click, etc. This adjustment sparked heated discussions among netizens and became a hot search topic.

A financial industry observer said that Huabei and Jiebei are star products of Ant Group. These changes may reveal that Ant will work hard on consumer protection and promoting rational consumption in the future. It is excluded that other financial technology platforms will follow suit.

Ant’s self-discipline code has attracted attention and may provide reference for the industry

It is worth noting that at the beginning of this year, the popularity of funds heated up, and Ant’s Alipay financial platform frequently spoke out, calling on investors to reduce Market expectations, don't enter the market blindly. Since then, some variety shows have invited fund managers to participate in the program, causing concerns that investment education has become entertainment. On March 4, the Alipay financial management platform and nearly 100 fund companies including ChinaAMC, CEIBS, Southern, and Nuoan responded to the initiative issued by the China Asset Management Association, saying that they would continue to carry out investment education activities and reject the entertainment-oriented investment education activities.

In fact, "rational consumption", "rational lending" and "rational investment" have been topics that have been discussed more online in the past year or two. The industry has also called on financial technology platforms to assume more social responsibilities.

Ant’s recently disclosed self-regulatory measures have attracted widespread attention from the outside world. On March 12, Ant Group announced self-discipline guidelines for digital financial platforms, covering core businesses such as Huabei, Jiebei, and financial management, and involves many requirements such as promoting rational lending and strengthening risk warnings.

For example, consumer credit platforms including Huabei and Jiebei, Ant revealed that future credit products should not unilaterally emphasize information such as low daily interest rates, and should also present the user cost and risk information of the product to protect users from knowing right.

(Huabei interest rate display page)

This seems to be a continuous response to hot topics outside. In early February, some users discovered that Huabei and Jiebei began to provide annual interest rate displays. At that time, the outside world was discussing that Internet loans should not unilaterally emphasize low daily interest rates.

Some financial technology practitioners said that although Ant Group’s rectification plan has not yet been released, a series of actions reflect Ant’s proactive adjustment direction.

For the development of the financial technology industry, in addition to meeting regulatory requirements, we must also be clear about our own capabilities and boundaries. Ant's self-discipline guidelines may provide a reference for the industry.