Life service platforms include lending inducements; financial lending can be just a click away. How can consumers safeguard their financial security?

Ask AI · Why do life apps eagerly embed lending services?

On April 7 in Beijing, China National Radio reported (by Li Yang, a reporter with China Voice of China Media Group), according to China Voice’s News Review program of China Media Group, when you open a food delivery app and order, a payment-in-installments discount of a few yuan pops up; when you book a ride, the payment page pushes low-interest borrowing; even when you top up a video membership or pay your phone bill, you can see a so-called lending entry. Today, in all kinds of life service platforms, lending inducements are everywhere. What should be careful, rigorous financial borrowing has become an operation you can tap anytime. Many people end up activating services without really understanding, and before they know it they have accumulated debt, even affecting their personal credit record. With financial marketing reaching into every corner, in the face of lending traps wrapped in layer after layer, how should consumers protect their own financial safety?

Wang, a man from Zhejiang, said he had recently noticed his phone repeatedly popping up various loan ads while he was binge-watching dramas. Phrases like “no need to find a guarantor, high credit limit, instant funding” (no guarantor needed, high credit limit, instant funding) are extremely tempting. In the gap while waiting for a drama episode to play, he inadvertently tapped a few times on the screen, and soon received a prompt that he could be approved for a 200,000 yuan loan.

Wang said, “I also often watch short dramas. After a few episodes, there are dozens of seconds of ads. Recently I’ve found loan ads are especially concentrated—for example, there are no credit checks, it’s convenient and fast, it reaches you in just a few minutes, and the loan amount is also very high, like 200,000, 300,000, or 500,000. It’s very easy to check the limit. And pretty soon the loan is basically going to be successful.”

Wang said that in the past, borrowing hundreds of thousands from a bank involved cumbersome procedures: you needed to provide property and auto collateral, check your credit record, and the disbursement was slow. Now, on your phone, you can borrow money by tapping a few times.

“Before, getting a loan was very difficult, but now it’s very convenient—and it seems like you can get a loan on almost any platform. They don’t even make you do facial recognition, and they don’t ask you to fill in property details or provide collateral—those things seem not to exist. Sometimes if you really need money, you might end up taking out a loan through this kind of lending.” Wang said.

Jie, a woman from Jiangxi, also clicked on a “Get 1 month VIP for free” button on a video platform while watching a hit show, only to be redirected to a loan application page.

Jie said, “At the time I was really into the drama. When I saw I could ‘get 1 month VIP for free,’ I thought I’d save about 20-plus yuan, so I clicked. In the end, I had to fill in my ID number and bank card information. While I was filling it out, I only then realized it was applying for a loan. I was so upset—just watching a drama turned me into a lending user. Now when I see the words ‘interest-free, loan, and installments,’ I won’t randomly click again.”

A lending entry on a certain travel app

A loan entry on a certain navigation app

A loan screen exit reminder on a certain business travel app

A lending entry on a certain business travel app

After reviewing the situation, the reporter found that among many commonly used apps—shopping, entertainment, travel, food delivery—many platforms have set up lending entries, and even some platforms that seem completely unrelated to loans are no exception. Behind it, there are mainly two models: platform in-house financial products and “assisted lending” services that route users from third parties. In the view of Liu Xingliang, a scholar of the digital economy, the core goal of online platforms is conversion rate and monetization efficiency. This kind of design fundamentally intentionally guides users to improve conversion outcomes.

Liu Xingliang said, “Lending business has high profits and strong repeat usage, so it will be placed at the highest priority level for recommendations. The designed details and behavioral nudges—for example, nudging at the moment when users are about to make a purchase, the button color being extremely eye-catching, the close button being more hidden, and the default pre-calculation of how much you can borrow—all fall under behavioral design; they lower the user’s decision-making threshold. According to the ‘Internet Information Services Algorithm Recommendation Management Provisions,’ platforms may not use algorithms to induce excessive consumption. But in reality, many of these behaviors are still pushing the boundary.”

Xia, a man from Hebei, told the reporter that not only do lending ads in apps disturb residents, but if people accidentally click them, they also leave credit record entries, laying hidden risks for their later life.

Xia said, “Ads related to lending require me to enter information like my mobile number or ID number. These ads affect the time and plans I use my phone for. After I click in, I can see related browsing records on my credit report. Later, when I need to use lending or small-loan products, credit-report personnel will ask why I clicked links related to lending—whether it means I have been intending to use lending-type products recently.”

Many people think installment purchases are just small perks where you pay later, but they didn’t expect that when you add it up, there are a lot of hidden charges. Tian Lihui, director of the Institute for Financial Development Research at Nankai University, believes that to calculate the true cost of loans or installments, the key lies in controlling the interest-rate component.

Tian Lihui said, “When you see ads like ‘daily interest as low as one ten-thousandth, a thousand-yuan loan is only a few tenths,’ be careful—this is not a promotion, but a cognitive trap. ‘One ten-thousandth daily interest’ sounds trivial, but if you multiply it by 365 days to get the annualized interest rate, it becomes 3.65%. If it’s five ten-thousandths, the annualized rate can be as high as 18.25%. That is already close to the upper limit of the interest rate for informal lending protected by law. To guard against this illusion, we must look at the annualized interest rate. According to regulatory requirements, any loan product must clearly mark the annualized interest rate in a prominent position. If it doesn’t, if it’s marked too small, or if it only shows daily interest and monthly fee rates, I suggest you turn around and leave.”

Tian Lihui pointed out that young people casually take out loans with a few-yuan coupon-like perks and end up borrowing more and more, which is a core pain point in consumer finance right now. He suggests that ordinary people should make clear how much they can borrow, and avoid exceeding their repayment ability.

Tian Lihui said, “The essence of finance is allocating resources across time—not trying to take small advantages. It’s completely not worth it. A simple self-check method with a 30% baseline: keep total monthly debt service within 30% of your monthly income—this is the comfort zone. After deducting necessary expenses: subtract essential spending each month such as rent, food, and transportation from your monthly income; from the remaining money, at most use half to repay debt, and the other half should be saved for savings or emergencies. True financial freedom isn’t about how much you can borrow—it’s about being able to control the desire to borrow money.”

In recent days, the National Financial Regulatory Administration has convened meetings with five assisted-lending platforms and six travel platforms, directly pointing to issues such as non-standard financial business marketing and unclear disclosure of interest and fees. In March this year, the two departments jointly issued new regulations requiring that personal loan business must clearly disclose the comprehensive financing cost, and fully list all interest and fee items and the collection standards.

Tian Lihui believes that non-financial applications are becoming hidden gateways for financial risks. In the past two years, the intensity and pace of related regulation have been unprecedented and historic. Clarifying interest and fee disclosure is only the first step; to root out disorderly problems, a three-in-one governance system is needed.

Tian Lihui said, “First, technical regulation needs to be upgraded—we cannot let algorithms become accomplices that induce borrowing, and algorithms that exploit users’ financial hardships need to be banned. Second, data usage must be standardized: consumption-behavior data and financial data need to be strictly separated to prevent platforms from judging whether you’re already short on money by analyzing your food delivery records or ride-hailing frequency. Third, a whole-chain responsibility mechanism should be established: in the marketing stage, it is prohibited to disguise things as consumption vouchers or points reminders; in the signing stage, consideration should be given to setting a cooling-off period; and in the debt-collection stage, violent debt collection must be strictly prohibited. Most importantly, a long-term consumer education mechanism must be established—financial literacy is not a luxury but a necessity. The ultimate goal of regulation is not to eliminate lending, but to make lending return to the essence of cautious decision-making.”