The "instant payout" service is being phased out: Are loan application entry points starting to be re-partitioned?

In the past, after clicking "Pay Now", the next step might be a "convenient loan offer"; starting from today, this path has been redrawn.

On September 30, the Administrative Measures for Online Marketing of Financial Products officially came into effect. Inducing wording such as "low threshold", "instant arrival", "low interest rate" and "zero cost" is explicitly prohibited, and financial products such as loans and wealth management products can no longer be mixed in the same option list with payment tools like bank cards and account balances.

This does not mean that loans cannot be disbursed quickly, nor does it mean that all internet financial access points are shut down completely. What has really changed is: payment is purely for settlement, and borrowing is purely for financing. Platforms can no longer leverage the traffic at the moment of payment to package two matters with completely different risk profiles into a single casual operation.

For consumers, they may need to read a few more lines of text and click one more step before borrowing money in the future; for platforms and financial institutions, the changes are even more significant — the old model that increased conversion rates by shortening click paths needs to be recalculated.

"Instant Arrival" Has Not Disappeared, What Has Disappeared Is The Implied Marketing Hint

Let's first clarify a common misconception.

The new regulation prohibits the use of inducing terms such as "instant arrival" in the online marketing of financial products, rather than prohibiting financial institutions from improving the efficiency of approval and disbursement.

If a bank can truly disburse funds quickly after identity verification, credit reference inquiry and risk assessment, the relevant technical capabilities still exist. However, it cannot only use the three words "instant arrival" to make consumers ignore the borrowing cost, credit granting conditions and repayment responsibilities.

Similarly, the inclusion of "low interest rate" in the list of inducing terms prohibited from use does not mean that financial institutions cannot offer relatively low interest rates. The problem is that in the past, some advertisements only placed the minimum daily interest rate, the first-period discount, or the price available to a small number of customers in the most prominent position, while hiding the annualized interest rate, service fee and applicable conditions deep inside the page.

What consumers see is "a few dollars a day", but what they actually sign is a contract that requires monthly repayment and may last for several years.

The new regulation requires that key information such as product name, provider, seller, interest rate and fee rate, and risk warning shall be consistent with the financial product contract, and displayed in a clear and eye-catching manner. Financial advertisements can no longer only show the most appealing side. Therefore, the exact meaning of the exit of "instant arrival" is: Borrowing cannot only emphasize speed, but also put the price, conditions and responsibilities on the table together.

No More "Loan Option" Can Be Tucked Next To The Payment Button

In this round of changes, the part closest to ordinary people is the payment page.

In the past, when checking out on some platforms, balances, bank cards, credit payments, consumer loans and even wealth management accounts might be placed in adjacent positions. Users originally only wanted to complete a consumption, but could easily see credit lines, coupons or installment prompts during the payment process.

From the perspective of platform operation, this path is very efficient.

Users have already selected their goods and are in the few seconds when their willingness to pay is the strongest. Displaying loan limits at this time is easier to convert than placing advertisements on ordinary pages. One shopping traffic can simultaneously bring payment revenue, credit diversion revenue and financial product marketing revenue.

But for consumers, the psychological perception will become blurred when "how much money I have" and "how much money the platform is willing to lend me" are placed together. The account balance is the user's own assets, the bank card is linked to existing deposits, while the loan limit is the debt to be repaid with future income.

The new regulation clarifies that for marketing different types of financial products such as deposits, loans, securities, insurance, and asset management products, separate publicity and display zones shall be established respectively; non-bank payment institutions shall not include loans and asset management products in the payment tool options, nor provide marketing services for these products.

According to the experience of Shanghai Securities News reporters, many large platforms have adjusted their pages: bank cards are classified as payment tools, credit products enter independent credit columns, and wealth management products are displayed separately. This is the media's observation of specific pages, and does not mean that the interface seen by every platform and every account is exactly the same.

What the rule aims to solve is not "whether one can borrow", but "whether the loan entry can be disguised as a payment method".

One More Click May Mean Less Revenue For The Platform

Separating payment and credit seems to be only adjusting a few buttons, but behind it will change the platform's traffic business.

There is a simple rule for internet products: the shorter the path, the higher the conversion rate is usually.

The psychological threshold for users to casually select credit products when paying is completely different from that of users who actively enter the loan zone, read the prompts, verify the financial institution and then apply. The latter requires a few more steps and leaves more time for thinking.

For consumers, these few seconds may reduce impulsive borrowing; for platforms, the click rate, application rate and marketing revenue of credit products may all be affected.

But "fewer ad clicks" is not the whole story of the new regulation.

If a third-party platform provides a financial product transfer channel for consumers, it must jump to the self-operated platform of the financial institution, and cannot jump to another third-party platform engaged in financial marketing; before entering the purchase or use link, it must also give prominent reminders and set a mandatory reading time.

In the past, a single loan might pass through traffic platforms, diversion channels, loan-assistance institutions and financial institutions. After multi-layer transfer, it was very difficult for ordinary users to clearly see who is actually providing the funds, who is conducting the approval, and who is charging the fees.

Now, the diversion chain has been compressed. Platforms can still provide ad display and technical transfer services, but they must let consumers know which licensed institution is the actual provider of the financial product.

The traffic has not disappeared, but it can no longer be nested layer upon layer.

Whoever Disburses The Loan Shall Take Back The Corresponding Responsibilities

The new regulation puts financial institutions back at the center of marketing responsibilities.

Financial institutions shall be responsible for the legality and compliance of online marketing content, and establish a mechanism of headquarters overall planning, approval for record-filing and compliance review; marketing content in official accounts, live broadcasts and short videos shall also use versions reviewed and confirmed by financial institutions, and retain materials such as images, texts, videos and audios for inspection.

This has changed the responsibility structure in some past collaborations.

In the past, financial institutions might provide products, platforms were responsible for traffic and pages, and intermediaries were responsible for customer acquisition. When problems arose, all parties tended to shift the blame to each other: the bank claimed that the advertisement was not produced by itself, the platform said it was only responsible for display, and the intermediary stated that the final loan was approved by the bank.

The new regulation clarifies that financial institutions will not be exempted from the responsibilities they should bear for the products just because they entrust marketing to third parties; if platforms carry out marketing in violation of regulations and damage the rights and interests of consumers, they shall also bear corresponding responsibilities.

For financial institutions, this means that marketing material review, partner platform assessment, data management and complaint handling will all increase costs. In the past, the goal was "more applications", but in the future, they also need to ask: through what wording, what page and what channel did these customers come in?

A large number of loan applications no longer automatically equals good marketing. If customers do not understand the products, the overdue rate rises or complaints increase, the larger the traffic, the greater the potential risk.

What Else Can Platforms Do? Technology And Traffic, But They Cannot Make Decisions On Behalf Of Banks

Third-party platforms will not withdraw from financial services as a result.

The space left by the rules is very clear: platforms can provide online marketing, information display, technical connection and related services, but cannot enter the core sales link of financial products in a disguised form.

In accordance with the new regulation, third-party platforms shall not intervene or intervene in disguised form in the signing of sales contracts, fund transfer, investor suitability assessment and loan limit assessment, nor conduct interactive consultation with consumers on specific financial products. Platforms should also stick to the positioning of technical service providers, and cannot use technology to help partner institutions evade supervision.

This boundary will rewrite the value of platforms.

In the past, the competitiveness of some platforms came from "large access volume": with a large number of users and rich scenarios, they could continuously display financial products during shopping, ride-hailing, food ordering and payment processes.

Going forward, traffic alone is no longer enough. Platforms also need to prove whether their technology can help financial institutions do a better job in identity recognition, anti-fraud, information security, system connection and compliance trace retention.

In other words, platforms can no longer hide outside the transaction chain with the excuse of "I am only responsible for diversion", nor can they act like banks to decide who can borrow how much money.

The truly valuable capabilities of platforms will shift from "bringing users in" to "making the entire process safer, more accurate and more traceable".

Check Four Points First Before Borrowing Money As A Consumer

After the pages are re-partitioned, consumers still need to complete the final judgment by themselves. When seeing online loan products, they can check four pieces of information first.

First, check who is the actual lender. The page shall clearly show the financial institution that actually provides the loan, instead of only displaying a platform brand.

Second, check the real annualized cost. Do not only look at the daily interest rate, monthly payment or first-period discount, but also verify the annualized interest rate, service fee, guarantee fee and prepayment conditions.

Third, check if there is a default checkmark. Bundled sales of financial products shall not be set as default consent. When purchasing goods or applying for membership, pay attention to whether installment, insurance or other financial services are attached.

Fourth, check if it is convenient to opt out. Marketing SMS messages, phone calls and algorithm recommendations shall provide options for rejection, unsubscription or shutdown; after users refuse, no repeated push shall be made in the same way.

These actions are not complicated, but they can turn "the platform says it is very cheap" into "I can calculate it clearly myself".

The Administrative Measures for Online Marketing of Financial Products does not push internet financial services back to the counter. It re-divides the access points and responsibilities: payment shall not be disguised as a loan, advertisements shall not replace contracts, platforms shall not be confused with banks, and technical convenience shall not erase financial risks.

In the past, the competition of internet finance was about who could make users click faster; going forward, the industry also needs to prove one thing — after fewer buttons and more prompts, whether the remaining customers have a clearer understanding of what they have bought, how much they have borrowed, and who shall be held responsible.