Yika 2025 Annual Report: Assist lending business grows against the trend, still receives complaints about charging membership fees and 36% high interest rates after new regulations on assist lending

Ask AI · What risks are hidden behind growth in the loan facilitation business against the odds?

Recently, (M) UpCard Ltd. (HK:09923) released its annual report for 2025, showing that in 2025, UpCard achieved revenue of RMB 3.311 billion, a year-on-year increase of 7.3%; and net profit attributable to the parent company of RMB 92.24 million, a year-on-year increase of 11.9%. Among them, overseas payment business transaction volume (GPV) was approximately RMB 5 billion, up sharply 323.3% year over year. Overseas payment fee rate and gross margin were 60 basis points and around 50%, respectively.

Looking in more detail at the most eye-catching overseas segment, GPV rose from RMB 1.113 billion in 2024 to RMB 4.713 billion in 2025, more than tripling. Benefiting from overseas market fee rates clearly higher than those in the domestic market, the company’s one-stop payment revenue increased by 8% during the year to RMB 2.9 billion. It serves multiple vertical industries, such as Guess and BYD.

A useful comparison is that UpCard’s in-store ecommerce services (local life) show extremely split financial performance. In 2025, the business’s full-year gross merchandise value (GMV) exceeded RMB 4.4 billion, up nearly 50% year over year. However, its recognized revenue decreased by 12.3% year over year to only RMB 53.68 million. The financial report attributes the decline to a shift in its business model: the decrease in the proportion of direct sales and the increase in channel sales led to a reduction in accounting revenue.

Another factor affecting its profits is that in the line item “Other (losses)/net gains,” UpCard generated “regulatory fines” of RMB 8.86 million in 2025, while the figure was only RMB 0.84 million in 2024—up by more than 10 times year over year.

In detail, LeShua Payment, which is part of UpCard, received three consecutive batches of penalties in 2025. In March, LeShua Payment was warned by the People’s Bank of China and fined a total of RMB 4.45 million for violations including: breaching institution management regulations, breaching merchant management regulations, violating clearing and settlement management regulations, and failing to conduct due diligence on outsourced service providers. The then Risk Control Director of LeShua Payment, Shu (someone with the surname Shu), was held responsible for LeShua Payment’s violations of merchant management regulations and clearing and settlement management regulations, and was warned and fined RMB 200,000. In August, LeShua Payment’s Hubei branch was fined RMB 500,000 by the Hubei Branch of the People’s Bank of China because it failed to fulfill due diligence obligations and related risk management measures. In November, LeShua Payment was fined RMB 3.695 million by the Shenzhen Branch of the People’s Bank of China for violating clearing and settlement management regulations and merchant management regulations, and illegal gains of RMB 74.168522 million were confiscated. In addition, Shu (who previously worked at LeShua Payment) was held responsible for LeShua Payment’s violations of merchant management regulations and was fined RMB 15,000.

In the financial report, this is explained only in a minimal way as: “Payment service businesses may be subject to regulatory supervision and inspections from time to time in the course of daily operations,” and the company also states that the directors believe such penalties will not have a material adverse impact on the Group’s operations. But fines on the order of nearly tens of millions are not common in the third-party payments industry, and they are certainly not small.

Worth noting is that Blue Whale News has observed that UpCard’s loan facilitation business is quietly gaining momentum.

UpCard has, among other entities, a network small-loan company, Guangzhou Feiquan Small Loan Co., Ltd., and a financing guarantee company, Guangzhou Feiquan Financing Guarantee Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “Feiquan Rongdan”), among others. The loan facilitation business is mainly carried out through Feiquan Rongdan and Shenzhen Feiquan Yun Data Service Co., Ltd.

In the revenue mix of its second-largest income source, “Merchant Solutions,” half of the revenue comes from small-loan-related business income—at RMB 169 million and RMB 165 million in the past two years, respectively. The financial report shows that UpCard’s outstanding loan receivables were RMB 678 million at the end of 2024, and increased to RMB 727 million at the end of 2025, up 7.18%. The annual report of UpCard states that the net impairment loss on financial assets increased by 36.7%, from RMB 88.20 million as of the end of 2024 to RMB 120 million as of the end of 2025. This increase is mainly due to adverse effects on customers’ loan performance caused by fluctuations in the macroeconomy.

According to Kaikai Finance, UpCard conducts business through “Haoe Borrow,” which is directed from the Youku Video app.

The Youku Video app—My—Borrow (Jian Quan Yi) is running a promotion, offering up to 8 months of Youku VIP membership (1 month after the complete completion of the process, 1 month after credit approval, and 6 months after successful borrowing). The “Haoe Borrow” page used for cooperative traffic from Youku Borrow shows a comprehensive annualized interest rate of 7%–36%. The partner organizations include: Huaxia Bank, Zhongguancun Bank, Langfang Bank, Huarui Bank, Lan Hai Bank, Yunnan Trust, and Dongguan Bank.

According to websites such as Black Cat Complaints, after the release of the “Notice on Strengthening the Management of Internet Loan Facilitation Business of Commercial Banks and Improving the Quality and Efficiency of Financial Services” in October 2025, the loan-related businesses associated with UpCard continued to receive frequent complaints about charging membership fees and high interest rates of 36%.