Reporters learned from the State Administration of Financial Supervision today (13th) that recently, some online malls have induced consumers to apply for loans in the name of shopping installments, recycling, etc., causing many consumer disputes. In order to effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, the Financial Consumer Rights Complaints and Mediation Center of the State Financial Supervision and Administration Bureau, the China Consumers Association, and the China Internet Finance Association jointly issued a risk warning to remind consumers to be wary of induced payment and high financing cost traps, and to enhance their identification capabilities and risk prevention awareness.
The risk warning also analyzes several typical traps through specific cases.
Case 1
Mr. Lu was attracted by the "high limit", "low interest" and "quick loan" of an installment mall. Without any real shopping needs, he placed an order for a certain brand of mobile phone at the mall for 7,599 yuan and applied for the consumer installment business. The mall guides that there is no need to receive the goods, and they can be cashed out by directly recycling them. A mobile phone of the same model and specifications sells for 5,810 yuan on mainstream e-commerce platforms. After 12 installments, the total loan principal and interest is as high as 8,529 yuan, while the recycling price is only 5,130 yuan. Mr. Lu later suffered from frequent debt collection by the platform due to his inability to repay. While his normal life was seriously affected, his personal credit also faced overdue stains.
Enlightenment: Under this type of business model, consumers not only need to pay installment interest fees, but also bear the loss of recovery price difference. Consumers should make income and expenditure plans based on their own financial conditions, not be fooled by inductive propaganda, and refuse to participate in illegal activities such as "cash-out on shopping." When handling consumer installment business, you must fully understand and carefully calculate the relevant costs to avoid incurring high liabilities and unnecessary repayment pressure. If there is a real need, they should choose financial products and services from formal channels that match their consumption characteristics, repayment ability, etc. based on their actual situation and risk tolerance, and repay them in a timely manner as agreed to avoid overdue effects on personal credit.
Case 2
When Mr. Ma applied for installment business through a shopping mall platform, he discovered that he had to upgrade to a specific membership level to be eligible to apply. He did not carefully read the relevant service agreement and prompts, did not notice the clause "successful installment is not guaranteed", and opened the paid membership service with one click. In the end, Mr. Ma failed to borrow money or buy goods, but the monthly membership fee of nearly 300 yuan was still "deducted correctly." Although he communicated many times to request a refund, the mall refused to refund for reasons such as "I have checked to agree to the agreement," and "there will be no refund after activation."
Enlightenment: Be wary of inducing bundled charges. When handling payment services online, consumers should pay attention to guard against risks such as unknown deductions, forced bundling, and black-box deductions. Carefully read the service agreement and pop-up prompts, and fully understand key terms such as service scope, termination conditions, refund rules, and deduction cycles. Carefully click on shortcut buttons such as "One-click Agree" and "Express Processing" to avoid unknowingly checking additional services, activating paid items, or authorizing too many permissions.
Case three:
When Ms. Li inquired about installment business from a consumer platform, she directly provided her name, mobile phone number, ID card and other personal information without reaching a loan intention. Since then, Ms. Li has frequently received harassing calls from third-party marketing, and even received suspected fraud messages, which is unbearable.
Implications: Improve awareness of personal information protection. Regarding the practice of consumer platforms to collect personal data for matching with partner organizations, consumers should strengthen their awareness of information security and be cautious in providing personal information or authorizing the scope of information collection and use to avoid leakage or illegal use of personal information.
The risk warning reminds consumers that if they find that their legitimate rights and interests have been infringed upon during the process of applying for installment for shopping and consumption, they should pay attention to preserving relevant evidence such as bills, transaction vouchers, communication records, and reasonably safeguard their rights through legal and formal channels. Consumers can negotiate with operators in accordance with laws and regulations such as the Consumer Rights Protection Law of the People's Republic of China. If the negotiation fails, they can report it to the National Consumers Association Smart 315 platform or the China Internet Finance Association; if they find suspected violations of laws and regulations, they can complain and report to regulatory authorities and public security organs.
