Selling insurance for a year rakes in a staggering 1.3 billion, and Yuanbao's rapid rise is accused of "specifically scamming the elderly."

Ask AI · How does Yuansafe’s AI technology drive high growth while causing complaints?

Written by｜Yuan Xiaoli

Edited by｜Liu Peng

On March 18, Yuansafe (YB.US) released its unaudited financial performance for the fiscal year 2025. The data shows that in 2025, Yuansafe’s total revenue reached 4.3732 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 33.1%; net profit was 1.3075 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 51.0%, with a net profit margin of 29.9%; cash reserves stood at 4.04 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 72.9%. The number of new policies issued during the year reached 30.66 million, a year-on-year increase of 36.7%, with approximately 7.9 million new policies issued in the fourth quarter, a year-on-year increase of 34.5%.

This impressive report card has made Yuansafe, an internet insurance intermediary platform labeled as “AI + insurance,” the focus of attention once again. Established just six years ago, Yuansafe has completed its leap from a startup to a NASDAQ-listed company, becoming the second-largest insurance distributor in China.

In a context where pure technology service providers and startup insurtech companies are generally losing money, Yuansafe’s performance stands out. CITIC Construction Investment Securities noted in the third quarter that, with the increase in AI technology penetration, Yuansafe has ample power for future valuation recovery. The current valuation has yet to fully reflect its cash reserves and technological moat, maintaining a “buy” rating with a target price of $33.6.

However, another set of data has also drawn attention. As of March 10, 2026, the Black Cat Complaint platform recorded 1,217 complaints against Yuansafe, with six new complaints in the past 30 days. Complaints mainly focused on “automatic deductions,” “misleading the elderly,” and “inducing insurance purchases.” The latest complaint was published on March 1, where a user claimed that they had been continuously deducted 1,650 yuan for 14 months since September 2024 without any insurance operation, demanding a full refund from Yuansafe. In January this year, the Chongqing Legal Daily reported that Mr. Hu, a resident of Chongqing, had his Alipay account automatically deducted by Yuansafe Insurance Brokerage (Beijing) Co., Ltd. for seven consecutive months between October 2024 and March 2025, totaling 1,503 yuan, involving two “Yuansafe Care” insurance products under Taikang Insurance and Guoren Insurance, which he and his family had never purchased.

Why does a rapidly growing, technology-driven public company face high levels of user complaints? As AI reshapes the insurance industry with unprecedented efficiency, why does Yuansafe’s ideal of “AI for all” encounter challenges of trust in reality? As a fellow internet insurance intermediary, why has Yuansafe managed to rank among the industry’s top tier in just six years, yet continues to struggle with reputation controversies?

01 The Code of Acceleration: AI Efficiency Boost, Inclusive Strategy Breakthrough, Traffic Conversion

Yuansafe is essentially still an insurance intermediary, relying on premium scale and renewal rates for profit. However, unlike traditional insurance intermediaries that depend on agents and a “human sea strategy,” Yuansafe’s growth driver is AI technology.

Specifically, Yuansafe’s “AI in All” strategy integrates AI into all business processes, including customer acquisition, underwriting, claims, and after-sales service. In simple terms, Yuansafe combines AI with insurance to analyze and predict different users’ insurance needs through user modeling, then uses media modeling to reach potential users, and finally matches users with products using product modeling to facilitate transactions. Once a user purchases Yuansafe products, the company earns commission income.

By the end of 2025, Yuansafe had built an AI library comprising over 4,900 models, capable of analyzing more than 5,700 user tags, with 70% of the development staff. The AI team accounts for over 10% of the total employees.

Founder Fang Rui has also mentioned that for Yuansafe, AI is not just an auxiliary tool but an important force driving innovation and decision-making.

The financial report data also validates Yuansafe’s growth logic. In 2025, Yuansafe’s total revenue surged, mainly from two segments: insurance distribution service revenue of 1.4468 billion yuan, up 33.8% year-on-year; and system service revenue of 2.9227 billion yuan, up 33.2% year-on-year.

It is noteworthy that Yuansafe’s sales and marketing expenses in 2025 reached 2.2172 billion yuan, accounting for 73.02% of total operating costs. This indicates that Yuansafe still heavily relies on sales expenses to drive business growth, essentially needing to capture traffic entry through large-scale advertising. However, the year-on-year growth of its sales and marketing expenses was 23.9%, lower than the growth rates of revenue and profit, which indicates that AI technology has made the advertising more precise and customer acquisition costs lower. At the same time, R&D expenses increased by 58% year-on-year, far exceeding the growth rate of sales and marketing expenses, reflecting Yuansafe’s strategic intention to invest heavily in R&D to build its technological barrier.

Yuansafe’s founder Fang Rui stated, “With the help of AI technology and a network composed of thousands of models, we provide personalized product service recommendations, connecting users with protection needs at a lower cost and higher efficiency, thus enhancing the accessibility of insurance.”

However, the speed of technological iteration is rapid. As Fang Rui said, “In front of AI, everyone is almost at the same starting line, easily subjected to ‘overtaking on the bend’.” Technology serves business, and its role lies in improving efficiency. Ultimately, revenue growth still relies on the insured population and premium scale.

Financial data shows that in 2025, the number of new policies issued by Yuansafe reached 30.66 million, a year-on-year increase of 36.7%, with approximately 7.9 million new policies issued in the fourth quarter, a year-on-year increase of 34.5%.

In addition to the efficiency brought by AI technology, another key growth factor for Yuansafe is its inclusive insurance strategy.

The traditional insurance industry has long had the unspoken rule of “health first,” often excluding individuals with chronic diseases and pre-existing conditions, as well as elderly individuals over 60 years old, from being able to purchase insurance. Yuansafe has relaxed the age limit for multiple products to 80 years old and even launched products covering individuals aged 0-99, while significantly relaxing occupational restrictions, allowing more ordinary people with underlying health conditions to obtain coverage. This strategy expands the scope of insured individuals to include more groups that were previously difficult to effectively include, becoming an important foundation for its scale expansion.

Yuansafe’s Chief Financial Officer also stated that the company achieved strong growth due to its continuous expansion of the user base.

At the same time, Yuansafe’s ability to rapidly increase policy transactions in a short period is closely related to its product structure. The prospectus shows that over 99% of the insurance products distributed by Yuansafe are short- to medium-term insurance, primarily medical and critical illness insurance. These products have low premium thresholds, short decision-making cycles, and high repurchase frequencies, naturally suitable for internet traffic conversion, and serve as another engine for the continuous growth of new policies.

02 Hidden Corners: The “Uninformed Insurance” and “Automatic Deductions” Behind Over 1,200 Complaints

Beyond the spotlight, shadows also exist.

“Today I checked the bank card of my elderly relative and found that there have been automatic deductions of over 700 yuan each month, accumulating nearly 10,000 yuan.” In March this year, Ms. Yang from Shanghai discovered this ongoing deduction that lasted for 10 months while reviewing the elderly person’s bank statement. Tracing the deduction records revealed that it originated from Yuansafe. “The elderly person inexplicably had three identical insurance policies.” Ms. Yang asked family members, but the elderly person had no recollection of ever purchasing insurance or signing any automatic deduction agreement.

Ms. Su from Zhejiang encountered a similar situation. After clicking on a “0 yuan insurance” pop-up while shopping on JD.com, she was alerted the next month that the bank had automatically deducted a payment, only then realizing that she had inadvertently completed an insurance purchase and authorized automatic deductions.

Analyzing these complaint cases reveals a common point: those targeted by “unexplained insurance” and “automatic deductions” are often elderly individuals. As one user complained on social media: “Yuansafe insurance specifically scams the elderly.”

Source: Social Media

Source: Black Cat Complaint Platform

On the Black Cat Complaint platform, there are over 1,200 complaints involving Yuansafe, with issues mainly focused on “automatic deductions,” “uninformed insurance,” and “misleading the elderly into purchasing insurance.” Users have reported that while browsing short videos or mini-programs, they were attracted to Yuansafe’s platform by advertisements like “first month 1 yuan,” “free to claim,” and “a few yuan per month,” and were defaulted into purchasing insurance without being clearly informed of the actual premiums, prominently alerted about automatic renewals, or fully shown the insurance terms.

It is noteworthy that the “automatic deduction” controversy does not only involve Yuansafe Insurance Brokerage itself but also includes other insurance intermediary agencies under its banner.

Source: Social Media

On February 14, 2026, a user reported on social media that their father-in-law’s bank card was inexplicably charged three times on the same day, with amounts of 310 yuan, 348.7 yuan, and 348.7 yuan. After querying at the bank counter, it was found that the deduction was made by Shouxin Insurance Agency, with a total of five deductions. After complaints through customer service, the amount was eventually recovered.

Enterprise Warning Information shows that Shouxin Insurance Agency (Guangdong) Co., Ltd. is indirectly controlled by Yuansafe Data Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. Shouxin Insurance was established in 2010, ten years earlier than Yuansafe Insurance, and has had three previous names. At the end of 2021, Yuansafe acquired Shouxin Insurance from Guangzhou Vipshop Information Technology Co., Ltd. to further expand its business landscape.

Source: Enterprise Warning Information

Source: Black Cat Complaint Platform

On the Black Cat Complaint platform, there are over 130 complaints regarding Shouxin Insurance, mainly focusing on consumers being uninformed and unauthorized automatic deductions.

In fact, these types of complaints are not new. As early as the initial stages of Yuansafe’s establishment, marketing phrases like “1 yuan insurance” led to a large number of complaints in order to cover more consumer groups and quickly acquire customers. In 2022, Yuansafe was warned and fined by regulatory authorities for not conducting internet insurance brokerage business according to regulations. Shouxin Insurance had already been criticized by the Gansu Consumer Association in August 2024 for autonomously insuring consumers and deducting fees without consumers’ consent during online sales.

Now that Yuansafe has successfully gone public, related complaints have not ceased. In a complaint on February 19, 2026, a user claimed that “Yuansafe Insurance deducted fees without authorization,” with a total of 5,076.46 yuan deducted continuously for 14 months since January 2025, demanding a refund and compensation.

The core controversy in these cases lies in whether users claiming “uninformed” status are indeed misoperating, or if the platform’s interface design, along with Yuansafe’s marketing phrases, contains misleading elements. In terms of channel cooperation control, user authorization verification, and obligation to inform about terms, did Yuansafe effectively fulfill its compliance responsibilities as an insurance intermediary?

03 Genetic Roots: NetEase Executives, Technological Aspirations Encountering Trust Cracks

Yuansafe’s ongoing user complaints and trust challenges are related to its corporate genetics and strategic choices.

Yuansafe’s founder, Fang Rui, does not come from a traditional insurance background but has years of experience in internet and fintech. Before founding Yuansafe, he worked at NetEase for 17 years, where he founded NetEase E-commerce and NetEase Pay, and served as Vice President of NetEase Group. In addition to Fang Rui, many executives in Yuansafe’s team are also from NetEase, with the prospectus stating that the team has worked together for over a decade, building an efficient and collaborative working mechanism. Fang Rui founded Yuansafe in November 2019, and the Yuansafe platform was launched in 2020. From the outset, Fang Rui defined “AI + insurance” as Yuansafe’s development model, taking a technology-first approach. He has publicly stated, “The Chinese insurance industry is at a new historical juncture; AI is the core productivity, and seizing AI means seizing the growth code of the insurance industry for the next decade.”

The combination of technology-driven and internet traffic strategies has allowed Yuansafe to rapidly validate its business model. Leveraging marketing tactics like “first month 1 yuan” and “free claim,” Yuansafe announced in May 2021, just over a year after its launch, that it had millions of paying users, and in the same year completed nearly 1 billion yuan in Series C financing, breaking records for financing speed in the internet insurance industry.

Fang Rui emphasized in media interviews that Yuansafe firmly believes in “technology serving people,” advocating for the use of AI to achieve inclusive and personalized insurance. However, there is inevitably a gap between ideals and reality.

Although Yuansafe positions itself as a technology company, it is essentially still an insurance distribution platform, with its profit core relying on premium scale and renewal rates. To achieve scale growth, it must rely on traffic acquisition and channel cooperation, which means it is still dominated by sales and marketing. Financial data also supports this: from 2023 to 2025, Yuansafe’s sales and marketing expenses were 1.462 billion yuan, 1.790 billion yuan, and 2.217 billion yuan, maintaining over 70% of total operating costs.

Behind the high marketing investment is Yuansafe’s adept handling of internet traffic logic, which stems from the founder and core executives’ background in large internet companies. However, the essence of insurance is a long-term contract based on transparency, integrity, and shared risk. As Yuansafe pursues technology and scale, issues of user trust have begun to emerge. Now that Yuansafe has successfully gone public and is transitioning from a “traffic-driven insurance distribution platform” to a “technology-driven insurtech service provider,” user complaints have not disappeared during this transformation.

04 Crossroads: How to Achieve Both Technical Efficiency and User Trust?

Yuansafe’s issues are not just the dilemma of a single company but a common problem faced by the entire insurtech industry: how to maintain the bottom line of trust while pursuing technological efficiency.

As early as 2021, the former China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issued the “Regulations on Internet Insurance Business,” which clearly stated that consumer autonomy should not be deprived through default selections or forced bundling. Compliance operation has long been a prerequisite for the sustainable development of internet insurance platforms.

In February 2026, Yuansafe released a brand video for its sixth anniversary, with the vision of “using technology to promote inclusive insurance, allowing the progress of the era and technology to become hope for everyone.” However, for ordinary people, what they need is not just “inclusiveness” and “benefits,” but also “trust” and “safety.”

In three years, Yuansafe achieved a turnaround to profitability, and within six years, successfully listed on NASDAQ in the United States. The rapid growth performance reflects a certain degree of market recognition of its business model. But the flip side is that user complaints continue unabated, and the trust crisis has not dissipated.

How to repair brand reputation and rebuild user trust beyond growth is a challenge that Yuansafe must confront, aside from technology. Can the capital story of merely “AI empowerment and efficiency enhancement” continue to win market recognition? Time and actions will provide the answer.