2024.0328

Number of words in this article:3371, reading time is about 6 minutes

introduction：变相高利贷卷土重来。

** Author| ** First Finance Wang Fangran

As consumption recovers, the once-restrained disguised usury is making a comeback. Different from previous reliance on leasing and stored-value card lending in disguise, recently, the "guaranteed system" lending platform has gained momentum. A survey by the First Financial Reporter found that the apparent annualized interest rate of such platforms is below 24%. In fact, guarantee fees and membership fees are used to increase loan costs in disguise. The annualized interest rate exceeds the red line, and some are as high as 40% to 126%.

It's March 15 again. Under strict supervision, how do such platforms conceal their expansion and attract customers? Behind the routine, how does platform management work? What are the risks behind it? Recently, the First Financial reporter conducted an actual survey of such "guaranteed system" loan apps and found that some operators have built complex corporate networks, and "Guangsha Net" operates multiple illegal platforms. These platforms have strong concealment and pass the "shell" APP jumps, introducing guarantee companies to charge additional fees. Borrowers not only face high repayment costs, but also many risks such as information leakage and collection.

Additional guarantee fee

"After borrowing all the channels I could borrow, I found this kind of 'guarantee system' platform in an advertising pop-up window. Li Ming (pseudonym), who is engaged in a coffee shop business in Shenzhen, was forced to turn to a third-party institution to borrow money due to difficulties in capital turnover and credit reporting problems.

Li Ming initially borrowed 1800 yuan from an APP called "Cherry Exchange" for a period of one month. The official poster showed that the minimum annualized interest rate on the loan was 14.4%.

But behind the seemingly reasonable interest rate, there are hidden guarantee fees. When Li Ming went through the loan procedures, the system showed that after evaluation, a "guarantee fee" of 168 yuan would be added. The fee was not refundable and could not be guaranteed repeatedly.

This directly pushed up Li Ming's borrowing costs. Based on the data provided by Li Ming, the reporter estimated that the actual amount he borrowed was 1800 yuan, the cost he needed to pay for one month was about 190 yuan, and the actual annualized interest rate was as high as 126%.

In addition to guarantee fees, there are also platforms that increase borrowing costs by charging membership fees multiple times. When testing a lending platform called "Leqidai", the reporter found that the platform needed to purchase members every month to be eligible for loans. The cost of membership fees is also not low. For example, if you borrow 4200 yuan a month, you need to pay a membership fee of 138 yuan and a guarantee fee of 252 yuan. The calculated annualized interest rate is as high as 111%.

However, the platform's front-end advertising page and APP application interface do not inform the borrower in advance that there may be additional guarantee fees and membership fees. Borrowers usually learn about the additional payment when they have submitted personal credit information and are waiting for the "next payment". The specific amount of guarantee fees and membership fees paid.

According to the reporter's investigation, such platforms are currently rapidly "racing" in the market. According to incomplete statistics from the reporter, there are more than ten guaranteed loan platforms such as Leqi Loan, Weixiangjia, Rongyihua, Xiaochengyi, and Weixiangjia. The actual loan interest rates range from 40% to 126%.

Complaints about such "guaranteed" lending platforms are also increasing. On an Internet third-party complaint platform, the reporter saw that many lenders reported that these platforms had various problems such as excessive guarantee fees, failure to fulfill their obligation of notification in advance, inability to view the encryption of the loan contract after borrowing, and violent collection.

"Loan shell" replication operation?

After measuring multiple guaranteed lending platforms, First Financial News found that these platforms have many similarities in interface design, lending rules, and names of borrowing companies. They are suspected of "copying" operations and are very secretive in terms of dissemination and promotion.

Hidden communication is first reflected in multi-level jumps. For example, the "Cherry Hui" lending platform does not have an official APP. After a borrower clicks in from the advertisement, the first thing he jumps to is an information APP called "Jujingrong". Only through the secondary link of the app. You can enter the "Cherry Hui" lending platform. The "Jujingrong" APP itself does not have any usable information functions. Multiple sections on the first screen display "Upgrading", and only the product entrance of "Cherry Collection" can be entered normally.

Similarly, there is the "Little Orange Yi" guarantee lending platform. This platform cannot be downloaded directly and needs to be redirected through a shopping APP called "Hoarding Turtle".

According to industry analysts,"Jujing Rong" and "Hoarding Turtles" are likely to be "loan shells" and are actually used as diversion intermediaries to evade supervision.

Another hidden operation is to collect money through a guarantee company. According to the information provided by interviewees, the guarantee fees of some lending platforms are not collected directly by the platforms, but by the guarantee company. Based on the historical lending information provided by the interviewees, the reporter noticed that one of the companies that charged the guarantee fee for the customers borrowing from "Xiaochengyi" is Zhongrong Anbang Investment Holdings (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.(hereinafter referred to as "Zhongrong Anbang"). The guarantee fee for "Cherry Hui" is partially charged by Hanyin Financing Guarantee Company.

The reporter's investigation found that some guarantee companies are inextricably linked to lending platforms. For example, the official telephone number of "Zhongrong Anbang" and Shenzhen Micron Information Service Co., Ltd.(hereinafter referred to as "Shenzhen Micron"), the registered company of "Xiaochengyi", is the same. Qi Caiyan, the actual controller of Zhongrong Anbang, has participated in the "Micron Series" company Shenzhen Micron Lianzhong Technology Enterprise (Limited Partnership) from 2018 to 2020.