The consumer finance industry in 2026 is undergoing an unprecedented and profound transformation. Central bank data reveals that during the first half of the year, the balance of household consumer loans fell by a net amount of approximately 1.05 trillion yuan; over the same period, banks and consumer finance companies listed a combined 160.7 billion yuan in non-performing loans for transfer and disposal on the Silver Exchange. Against this industry backdrop, consumer finance firms have been releasing their latest performance reports. As of the end of June 2026, the net assets of China Merchants Bank Consumer Finance stood at 25.898 billion yuan, up 3.1% from its level at the end of 2025; another leading institution, Mashang Consumer Finance, saw its net assets rise to 15.7 billion yuan, an increase of over 7% year-on-year. At the same time, its core risk indicator, first-payment delinquency (FPD10), dropped to a historic low; its loan provision ratio reached 17.5%, and its provision coverage ratio climbed to a comparatively elevated level. For a licensed consumer finance company, rising net assets, declining risk metrics, and continuously strengthened provision levels point not to mere "performance fluctuations," but rather to a deliberate, systematic strategy of "letting go," aimed squarely at long-term sustainability rather than short-term gains.

Why "Making Trade-offs" Became the Watchword of 2026

Regulators have moved to comprehensively tighten the loan assistance (co-lending) model. In October 2025, the "Notice on Strengthening the Management of Internet Loan Assistance Business of Commercial Banks to Improve the Quality and Efficiency of Financial Services" (the "New Loan Assistance Rules") officially took effect, establishing a judicial protection ceiling of 24% for comprehensive financing costs. On August 1, 2026, the "Provisions on Clearly Indicating Comprehensive Financing Costs for Personal Loan Business" came into force, institutionalizing the interest rate cap. By September 30, the "Measures for the Management of Online Marketing of Financial Products" was implemented, closing off the gray channel of "matryoshka-style redirects" at the customer acquisition stage. The regulatory direction is unmistakable — licensed institutions must learn to walk on their own two feet. Self-operated customer acquisition, independent risk management, and autonomous operations are the three priorities repeatedly emphasized in this informal guidance. The industry's "window of opportunity" is shifting: institutions that relied on loan assistance platforms for support will now be forced to build their own self-operated capabilities, while licensed players that have long cemented their self-operated foundations and hold the power of risk pricing in their own hands gain the initiative to absorb the "spillover" from the industry transition.

Against this backdrop, "letting go" and "holding on" carry equal weight. Leading consumer finance companies delivered distinctly different "trade-off report cards" in the first half of 2026. Bank of China Consumer Finance, China Merchants Bank Consumer Finance, and Ant Consumer Finance collectively listed more than 28.8 billion yuan in non-performing assets for transfer on the Silver Exchange in the first six months of the year, hitting a record high — a clear sign that the top players have unanimously chosen a path of "proactive disposal plus proactive tightening" rather than continuing to carry legacy risk on their balance sheets. Letting go has become an almost universal consensus among the leading institutions. According to data from China Unicom's 2026 interim report, China Merchants Bank Consumer Finance has tightened its reliance on certain third-party loan assistance channels and phased out small and medium-sized traffic platforms, resulting in an obvious slowdown in new lending disbursement speed. Mashang Consumer Finance, meanwhile, began proactively managing its business scale in the fourth quarter of 2025. Subordinating short-term financial figures to long-term asset quality is the most restrained, and also the most determined, choice available.

Building Capabilities: The "Adding" Side of the Equation

Where additions have been made, they are clearly focused on capability building. The core of Mashang Consumer Finance's adjustment lies in a comprehensive upgrade of its risk control models — in October 2025, the company completed a full iteration of its foundational models and strategies; by the end of June 2026, loans issued under this new model system and strategy set accounted for 85% of the company's entire loan balance. Even before the New Loan Assistance Rules took effect, Mashang Consumer Finance had already initiated its own multi-loan risk identification metrics, based on foresight into the potential for concentrated risk transmission among multi-borrower customer groups, making multi-lending a core risk control standard and monitoring delinquency performance across multiple tiers by multi-loan index. Since the beginning of 2026, the company has completed four rounds of comprehensive credit scoring iterations and nine rounds of dedicated risk model optimization, achieving full-segment coverage of its business customer base.

The Underlying Logic of Long-Termism

The choices being made today may well draw the dividing line between short-termism and long-termism. Mashang Consumer Finance established its artificial intelligence research institute as early as 2017, and has consistently invested in self-operated customer acquisition and independent risk management. In essence, it had already chosen its future before the regulators ever stepped in. The phased decline in revenue and net profit reflects a transition from scale-driven growth to quality-driven growth — not a simple matter of shrinking the business, but of solidifying the compliance chain of risk control, pricing, and disclosure behind every asset originated. This restraint is the most unpretentious footnote to long-termism. At the same time, on the technology front, it is not "technology for technology's sake," but rather the use of every operational action as a sturdy tool. From a 90-day iteration cycle to one day, and from 80% manual processing to 80% AI-driven processing in operations, the underlying story is the systematic integration of AI across modules including risk control, customer acquisition, customer service, and consumer protection.

How the Industry Landscape Will Be Reshaped After the Tide Recedes

When the tide goes out, the industry structure will be reshaped. Armed with the courage to "let go" in exchange for the future capacity to "hold on," the winners will not be the largest players, but those long-termists who have executed the "addition" strategy most solidly. Mid-2026 offers a snapshot of China's consumer finance industry. Industry-wide, the old paradigm of scale expansion is exiting the stage. The trade-offs being made are, at their core, expressions of strategic choice — knowing what to do and what not to do. These choices all answer a simple question: as the industry shifts from a "sprint" to a "marathon," those who go the furthest are not the fastest runners, but the ones who best understand "pace control." This, precisely, is what high-quality development in consumer finance truly entails.