Despite the interest rate red lines set by new lending facilitation rules and microfinance guidelines, which were supposed to be the final curtain for high-interest online loans, some platforms are still employing tactics like installment malls and monthly guarantee schemes to play a "metamorphosis" of usurious online lending before the curtain fully falls.

A recent investigation has revealed that some platforms continue to exploit users through concealed operations involving "product installments + platform buyback" transactions at installment malls. Furthermore, numerous monthly guarantee platforms have emerged, employing multi-layered user redirection. For instance, borrowing 5,200 yuan requires a monthly repayment of 7,124 yuan, and borrowing 6,000 yuan requires a monthly repayment of 8,490 yuan, resulting in annualized interest rates exceeding 400%!

When monthly guarantee platforms use guarantee service fees as a "fig leaf," and when installment malls turn high-value goods like gold and 3C products into "loan-disbursing props," how can this final狂欢 of usurious online lending be stopped?

Installment Malls: The "Invisibility" of Annualized Rates Have you encountered situations where lending behavior is disguised, packaged as "product installments + platform buyback" transactions, and then used product premiums and buyback discounts to indirectly charge exorbitant interest?

"I purchased gold on the Xiaoxiang Youpin platform for 'buyback.' They promised payment within one business day, but it's been several days with no payment. Customer service only says to wait. Now the repayment bill has been issued. Do I have to wait until the repayment date for the payment?" a reader, Li Qi (pseudonym), recently stated.

Li Qi explained that on December 26, 2025, they placed an order for gold products totaling 4,707 yuan on Xiaoxiang Youpin, divided into 12 installments. After the installments were set up, Xiaoxiang Youpin initiated an official "one-click buyback" at a price of 3,016.5 yuan. Throughout this process, Li Qi never physically handled the corresponding goods. On December 29 of the same year, the platform indicated that the buyback quality inspection was complete.

Through Xiaoxiang Youpin's "out-and-in" process, the original installment purchase turned into a cash-out, with the loan cost far exceeding the 24% regulatory requirement. Calculated using the IRR standard method, the annualized interest rate for Li Qi's gold installment plan reached a staggering 146.8%.

On January 11, a reporter noted on the Xiaoxiang Youpin platform a Shuibei gold bracelet priced at 14,029 yuan. Calculated over 12 installments, the monthly repayment was 1,312.17 yuan, making the total installment amount 15,746.02 yuan. The product weighs approximately 8.71 grams. Based on the selling price, the price per gram exceeded 1,610 yuan. On the same day, the selling prices for gold jewelry from well-known brands were concentrated around 1,400 yuan per gram, while buyback prices ranged from 970 to 1,000 yuan per gram.

Even compared to the selling price of branded gold jewelry (calculated at 1,400 yuan/gram), the original selling price of Xiaoxiang Youpin's gold bracelet at 14,029 yuan represents a premium of 15%. Under the IRR standard method, the annualized interest rate for the installment plan on this bracelet is 24%. However, calculating based on a total installment amount of 15,746.02 yuan, a monthly repayment of 1,312.17 yuan, and a total buyback price of 8,710 yuan (calculated at a gold buyback price of 1,000 yuan/gram), the annualized rate skyrockets to 101.57%.

Searching with the keyword "installment mall" in various mobile app stores reveals numerous apps named XX Installment, XX Mall, and XX Buy. Upon closer inspection, it's evident that the top-ranked apps in search results are mostly closely related to loan businesses.

According to a hands-on test of an app named Aiyong Mall, during the real-name verification step, users are first required to authorize a bank card payment agreement. Hidden within the "one-click authorization" is an account entrustment and deduction authorization letter, which explicitly states consent to authorize the company and its relevant partners irrevocably, agreeing to allow any cooperating deduction institution to perform fund deductions. Furthermore, based on platforms like Hei Mao投诉, a large number of users have reported that Aiyong Mall deducts funds from their accounts under the guise of charging membership fees.

After submitting a loan quota application, the "Quota" page on the Aiyong Mall app begins to display the loan product "Ai You Qian" and the installment consumption product "Ai Man Fen." If a user wants to borrow money, they are forced to activate the platform's Supreme Annual Card membership, costing approximately 1,000 yuan, deducted over 3 months. Simultaneously, "Ai You Qian" does not allow viewing of the loan contract, nor does it display specific loan interest rates or the lending institution. For a loan of 3,000 yuan, the platform only offers a 12-month term with a single monthly repayment of 283.68 yuan. Factoring in the 1,000 yuan membership fee, the actual amount received is 2,000 yuan, resulting in an annualized IRR as high as 171.60%.

Whether it's Xiaoxiang Youpin or Aiyong Mall's "Ai Man Fen," the product installment pages do not标明 the specific annualized interest rate. "Many users in installment malls don't understand how fees are calculated and end up signing contracts in a daze," commented an industry insider.

In the view of Li Ya, a lawyer at Beijing Zhongwen Law Firm, failing to disclose the installment interest rate violates the right to know stipulated in the "Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law of the People's Republic of China"; bundling practices may constitute forced transactions, infringing upon consumers' right to choose and fair trade. This leads to consumers unknowingly bearing actual costs far exceeding the legal上限, easily falling into a debt trap.

Regarding why loan pages do not accurately disclose the annualized interest rate of installment products, whether the current company is included in the financial institution's "whitelist," and how they view installment malls being accused of issuing disguised usurious loans, reporters reached out to Xiaoxiang Youpin and Aiyong Mall for comment. As of the time of writing, no response had been received from the relevant companies.

Monthly Guarantee Platforms: Interest Rate Soaring Under the Cloak of "Guarantee Fees" Unlike the "roundabout tactics" of installment malls, the operations of monthly guarantee platforms are more direct—using high guarantee service fees as the core tool to push annualized interest rates above 400%.

The loan cycles for such platforms are generally one month, which is short, requiring repayment in two installments. The loan interest rates displayed on the borrowing platforms are usually within 24%, yet they hide the vast majority of costs under the heading of "guarantee service fee."

Recently, a consumer, Wang Tao (pseudonym), shared his loan experience. In December 2025, he obtained loans from multiple online lending platforms recommended by the App Zhihui Rong. Taking the "You Xiang Yong" platform as an example, he borrowed 5,200 yuan, to be repaid in two installments over one month, totaling 7,124 yuan. The breakdown of the two installments included the principal of 5,200 yuan, interest of 104 yuan, and a guarantee service fee of 1,820 yuan. Due to a one-day overdue payment, he also had to pay a penalty of 52 yuan per day.

There was also another lending platform, "Xing Hao Yong," where Wang Tao borrowed 6,000 yuan, repayable in two installments within one month, totaling 8,490 yuan. The fee structure similarly included principal and interest of 6,120 yuan, along with a high guarantee fee of 2,370 yuan.

Calculations show that the actual annualized interest rates for Wang Tao's loans on the "You Xiang Yong" and "Xing Hao Yong" platforms reached 444% and 498% respectively, far exceeding the judicial protection上限 for private lending interest rates.

It is important to note that, according to Wang Tao, neither platform disclosed the actual lending institution behind the loan on their pages. He didn't even know who the actual lender was or what the interest rate was until he saw the exorbitant guarantee fees, leading him to wonder: "Did I get a black-market loan?"

Regarding Wang Tao's loan issues, a reporter attempted to download the Zhihui Rong App for testing. The platform claims to be "a smart service app specially tailored for the vast number of users," helping them quickly obtain needed funds to meet diverse capital turnover needs. From the loan homepage, the maximum borrowable amount is 200,000 yuan, with a comprehensive annualized interest rate ranging from 7.2% to 24%. However, when attempting to activate the quota, the reporter encountered an "identity异常" message and could not complete verification.

"This platform seems to be malfunctioning; I can't even find my original page now," Wang Tao said. As of now, some of his loans have become overdue, and he has received numerous debt collection calls. "But the callers don't seem like legitimate collection companies; it's chaotic on the phone, and they're asking me to add their WeChat for private transfer repayment. Is this compliant?" Wang Tao questioned.

Li Ya told reporters that this model essentially uses items like "guarantee fees" to break through the legal interest rate上限, violating the prohibition of usury in the "Civil Code of the People's Republic of China." Their practices of lending without qualifications and concealing key information涉嫌 illegal operations and fraud. The core risk lies in using complex structures to掩盖超高 interest rates,加重 borrower debt burdens.

Although the loan process couldn't be tested firsthand, reporters found from Zhihui Rong's related agreements that the platform is developed by Chengdu Zhiqiang Huirong Technology Co., Ltd. and operated in cooperation with Chongqing Jiuyun Small Loan Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Jiuyun Small Loan"). Jiuyun Small Loan is controlled by Jiuzhou International Investment Holding Co., Ltd. According to previous reports, this small loan company had close ties to the usurious lending platform "Jie Dai Bao," which was exposed by the CCTV "3·15" Gala.

Regarding the loan issues described by Wang Tao, reporters sought verification and comments from Zhihui Rong and Jiuyun Small Loan. As of the time of writing, no response had been received from Jiuyon Small Loan. The official customer service of Zhihui Rong responded that the platform is a "matching display platform," only showing information about capital providers, not involved in loan审核, and unable to query the资质 of capital providers or loan interest rate details. Regarding related loan marketing and recommendation behaviors, and whether they possess financial资质 or have conducted relevant审核, no clear response was given. However, regarding the usurious online lending encountered by consumers, the representative反馈 they could assist in contacting the corresponding capital provider for coordination.

Notably, experiences like Wang Tao's are not uncommon. Searching for keywords like "monthly guarantee" and "guarantee fee" on the Hei Mao投诉 platform reveals numerous related complaints. Users have reported issues such as platforms "lending without proper资质 while charging disguised upfront interest," "exorbitant guarantee fees," and "usury."

The Breeding Ground for Chaos: The Final狂欢 The rampant growth of installment malls and monthly guarantee platforms is seen within the industry as a product of the interaction between market "subprime" demand and short-sighted profit-seeking.

The implementation of new lending facilitation rules in October 2025, which明确 included various service fees into the calculation of comprehensive financing costs and set a 24% interest rate red line, made many high-interest lending models unsustainable. Consequently, leading lending facilitation institutions have scaled back high-interest businesses and exited the 24%-36% high-interest track. However, this has left a vast market gap. Some small and medium-sized platforms unwilling to give up the lucrative usury蛋糕 have resorted to "innovative" models to circumvent regulation, giving rise to the two variants of installment malls and monthly guarantee platforms.

Taking installment malls as an example, Cao Xu (pseudonym), a资深 practitioner in the lending facilitation industry, explained that the business models of current installment malls in the market all revolve around lending and buybacks. The customer base for installment malls is relatively下沉. Cashing out through easily liquidated goods like mobile phones and gold is the core demand for most users.

Behind the different models of installment malls lie套路 such as product premiums,捆绑 membership fees, and low buyback prices—all essentially aimed at突破 the lending industry's interest rate上限.

"It's still about maintaining暴利, especially under the background of regulatory requirements to return to本源 and lower interest rates. Using methods like product premiums, guarantee fees, and technical service fees to hide the real interest rate aims to exploit users' insensitivity to high interest or inability to calculate the costs clearly, allowing for quick harvesting of high returns in the short term. When compliant lending offers limited profits, these gray-area operations become the preferred path for some platforms to make quick money," similarly stated Wang Pengbo, Chief Analyst at Botong Consulting.

"The commonality between the two lies in splitting interest under names like 'product price difference' and 'service fee' to evade interest rate regulation. The root cause is driven by违规 profits and the existence of gaps in regulatory enforcement. Some institutions exploit regulatory gray areas and information asymmetry among consumers to implement disguised usury," Li Ya also stated.

However, the high interest rates brought by models like installment malls are not seen as sustainable by many. An insider in the installment mall field直言 that for small and medium-sized lending facilitation platforms, installment malls are a "pseudo-proposition" rather than a way out.

The aforementioned insider stated that even before the new lending facilitation rules took effect, installment malls were already in an awkward position in the market, with high capital costs and a customer base mostly characterized by high risk. Under the 24%上限 requirement, after综合 calculating capital and customer acquisition costs, bad debt provisions, and operational expenses, platform profits are limited. Once users engage in malicious defaults, it becomes difficult to cover the risks.

"High interest rates cover high risks; platforms rely on volume to exchange for profits through scale, while users are eager to 'extract loans for cash-out.' This is an 'abyss' for both sides and cannot form a良性循环. Therefore, the current various变异 behaviors that push up loan interest rates seem like the 'final狂欢' of the online lending industry," the insider直言.

Cao Xu also revealed to reporters that most platforms in the current market involved in high-interest loans are scaling back their businesses, some even stopping new customer lending.

The industry believes that the usury chaos associated with installment malls and monthly guarantee platforms not only infringes upon consumer rights but also disrupts financial market order, urgently requiring concerted efforts from multiple parties for rectification.

Li Ya suggested that后续 efforts should further strengthen穿透 regulation,合并 calculating various fees into the comprehensive cost, and strictly enforce the 24% annualized interest rate red line. Additionally, it should be明确 required that all platforms prominently display the IRR annualized interest rate. Legal penalties should be strictly imposed for lending without资质, false advertising, and other violations, with accountability extended to associated parties.

Wang Pengbo further stated that for such usury chaos,后续 efforts should further压实 platform primary responsibility, requiring complete disclosure of capital providers, guarantors, and fee details, and strictly prohibiting institutions without资质 from participating in the lending chain. Additionally, a跨部门 joint law enforcement mechanism should be established to implement全链条打击 on behaviors like高频 redirection, violent debt collection, and false advertising.