At a bank counter, a middle-aged woman anxiously showed a bank employee the 194 yuan inexplicably deducted from her mobile phone; the words "Waterdrop Insurance" on the transaction details left her both confused and angry—she had never purchased any insurance.

Waterdrop Insurance has recently been pushed into the spotlight once again. A prominent Weibo influencer revealed that an elderly family member accidentally touched a pop-up window in a mini-program, which led to the activation of online payments and the consecutive deduction of premiums for three insurance policies, sparking nearly 400 comments where numerous netizens reported similar experiences.

As of January 2026, complaints against Waterdrop Insurance on the Black Cat Complaints platform have exceeded 2,200, with "unauthorized deductions" and "automatic renewals" being the primary issues. Behind this data lies the helplessness of countless ordinary consumers, particularly the elderly with limited digital skills, when confronted with the design of online insurance sales.

The incident erupted rapidly on social media, with the topic of Waterdrop Insurance's "accidental touch deductions" gaining traction. A prominent Weibo blogger detailed their family's ordeal: after an elderly person accidentally touched a pop-up on their phone, online payments were activated, leading to charges for three separate insurance policies. When the blogger attempted to contact customer service, they found it impossible to reach a human agent via Waterdrop's phone line, ultimately resolving the refund and account cancellation only through JD.com's customer service. In the comments section of the related Weibo post, nearly 400 user responses revealed a significant number of similar cases. The problems predominantly involved elderly family members accidentally triggering ads while scanning QR codes, clicking SMS links, or using shared bicycles, resulting in "inadvertent enrollment." One user claimed their mother's account was deducted 600 yuan, while another stated they had already assisted multiple elderly individuals in canceling policies. On the Black Cat Complaints platform, complaints against Waterdrop Insurance have surpassed 2,200 entries. The path to recourse for consumers who discover unauthorized deductions is often fraught with difficulty. The experience of the aforementioned Weibo influencer is quite representative: after discovering the unauthorized enrollment, their first attempt to contact Waterdrop customer service was met with an automated system that blocked access to a live agent. They ultimately succeeded in processing the refund and closing the account only by contacting JD.com's customer service. The blogger concluded that a firm stance, explicitly threatening to file a complaint on the Black Cat platform, was often necessary to secure a successful refund. Banks can also serve as a crucial channel for assisting users. In Qingzhou, Shandong, a customer named Zhang, after discovering a 194 yuan deduction from his account and being unfamiliar with mobile operations and unable to reach platform客服, had no choice but to seek help from his bank. A bank duty supervisor, leveraging knowledge of the Consumer Rights Protection Law, persistently communicated with the platform and ultimately helped the customer recover the full deducted amount. In reality, the pathways for consumers to accidentally enroll in Waterdrop Insurance services are varied. According to an analysis by Phoenix Finance, these primarily include mistakenly clicking on marketing links in SMS messages, accidentally touching pop-up ads while scanning codes, and being induced by promotional slogans like "0 yuan insurance" or "first month for 1.9 yuan." These designs often exploit common vulnerabilities, particularly targeting demographic groups less familiar with digital products, such as the elderly. Waterdrop Inc.'s business model is both sophisticated and contentious. The company's operations are primarily composed of three segments: Waterdrop Crowdfunding (Chou), Waterdrop Insurance (Bao), and medical services. Among these, Waterdrop Crowdfunding serves as a traffic acquisition channel; while not profitable itself, it generates massive user流量 for the company. As of the end of June 2025, approximately 480 million person-times had participated in donations, with the customer acquisition cost per user being a mere 0.3 yuan. This user traffic is efficiently converted into Waterdrop Insurance customers. In the first half of 2025, insurance revenue reached 1.397 billion yuan, accounting for 87.74% of total revenue, with an operating profit of 322 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 27.85%. The Waterdrop Insurance platform currently cooperates with over 100 insurance companies, offering nearly 2,000 products. This "public welfare引流 + insurance monetization" model significantly reduces customer acquisition and operational costs for the company, achieving highly efficient reuse of traffic and value maximization. However, this business model has also brought a series of problems. In 2019, Waterdrop Crowdfunding was exposed for "floor-by-floor" solicitation, approaching patients bed by bed in hospitals to ask if they needed fundraising assistance, with the primary aim being to recruit leads for the insurance business. A survey in the "China Philanthropy Development Report" indicated that user satisfaction with Waterdrop Crowdfunding dropped from 95% in 2020 to 60% in 2024. Both the number of donors and the amount donated decreased by approximately 20% in 2024. Despite the recent stream of negative press, Waterdrop Inc.'s financial performance has been quite strong. In the third quarter of 2025, the company reported net operating revenue of 975 million yuan and net profit attributable to parent company shareholders of 158 million yuan. Within this, insurance-related revenue reached 870 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 44.8%, and first-year scale premiums increased by 32.3% quarter-on-quarter. Company founder and CEO Shen Peng attributed these results to the deep integration of AI technology. Under the strategic direction of "All in AI," Waterdrop has empowered its insurance business with large AI models, covering core areas such as underwriting, customer service, quality inspection, product innovation, sales, and marketing. The AI insurance客服 "Baoxiao Hui" handles over 600,000 service instances per month, and the AI underwriting expert "KEYI.AI" can turn tasks that previously took minutes into near-instantaneous processes. In stark contrast to the robust financial performance, the company's stock price has remained persistently low. As of October 2025, Waterdrop's stock price was only $1.92 per share, a decline of over 80% from its IPO price of $12 per share in 2021. In September 2021, the company announced a share repurchase program; as of August 31, 2025, it had cumulatively repurchased approximately 55.7 million ADSs from the open market, yet this has failed to effectively boost the stock price. Regulatory pressure on Waterdrop Insurance is mounting. In May 2025, the Shanghai Consumer Council publicized four types of issues in the online insurance sector, specifically naming platforms including Waterdrop Insurance. The notice pointed out that Waterdrop's "Million Medical Insurance" product had discrepancies between its advertising and policy terms: the page claimed coverage for ages "0-70 years," whereas the actual policy stipulated an age range of 30 days to 65 years. Even earlier, Waterdrop Insurance had been penalized by regulators for irregular marketing practices. The former CBIRC issued a fine to Waterdrop Insurance Brokerage Co., Ltd., citing instances where it sold insurance products using promotions like "first month/period 0 yuan" or "first month/period 3 yuan." This practice was identified as "failing to use approved or filed insurance clauses and premium rates." Consequently, Waterdrop Insurance Brokerage was fined 1 million yuan, and the responsible individuals were warned and also fined. In August 2025, the Hubei branch of Waterdrop Insurance Brokerage Co., Ltd. was fined 100,000 yuan by the National Financial Regulatory Administration's Hubei Bureau for "untrue business information," with the responsible personnel receiving warnings and fines totaling 20,000 yuan.

This is not the first time Waterdrop Insurance has been penalized for compliance issues, indicating persistent systemic vulnerabilities at the operational execution level. The online insurance industry is undergoing profound transformation. With the introduction of regulations like the "Measures for the Supervision of Internet Insurance Business," industry entry barriers have been raised, leading to the removal of numerous products from the market. The regulatory trend aims to guide product design for internet channels towards lower premium rates compared to traditional channels, reflecting the direct-selling nature of online channels, optimizing industry channel costs, restricting excessive public traffic acquisition, and ultimately benefiting consumers. For Waterdrop Inc., perhaps the greatest challenge lies in balancing commercial interests with social responsibility. When philanthropic goodwill becomes an entry point for commercial traffic, the boundary between the two becomes blurred. Founder Shen Peng once stated that the initial purpose of the venture was to solve problems, not to make money, defining the company as "a social enterprise." However, the actual business model in practice has sparked numerous controversies. How to achieve sustainable development without depleting societal goodwill is a problem Waterdrop must confront. In the company's latest financial report, founder Shen Peng confidently stated: "AI technology, as the core driver for enhancing business quality and efficiency, is propelling the company's revenue and profit to achieve double-digit high growth." But on platforms like Weibo and Black Cat Complaints, over 2,200 complaint records and the continuously increasing cases of accidental touch deductions silently question this publicly listed company, whose market value has shrunk by over 80%. When technology is used to set consumer traps rather than improve service quality, the光环 of innovation dims. As of June 2025, Waterdrop Crowdfunding had accumulated approximately 480 million users who donated 70 billion yuan to 3.54 million patients—figures that once formed the cornerstone of its商业 story. But today, this business model nurtured by public welfare traffic is facing the尖锐对立 of its dual nature.