On September 18, five industry associations — including the National Internet Finance Association of China, the China Banking Association, the China Trust Industry Association, the China Finance Company Association, and the China Micro-Credit Industry Association — jointly released the "Self-Regulatory Code for Clear Disclosure of Total Financing Costs in Personal Loan Business" (the "Self-Regulatory Code"). The new rules impose more detailed requirements on how total financing costs for personal loans are presented. Lenders are prohibited from using daily interest rates or monthly fee rates as substitutes for annualized cost figures. Online loans must display a clear disclosure table through a dedicated pop-up window, with a mandatory reading time of no less than 10 seconds. This marks another step forward in fee transparency rules, following the "Regulations on Clear Disclosure of Total Financing Costs in Personal Loan Business" issued jointly by the National Financial Regulatory Administration and the People's Bank of China in March.

Disclosure requirements refined down to the interaction level as leading institutions complete adaptation

The Self-Regulatory Code delivers targeted constraints on issues observed in the market, such as inconsistent fee disclosure standards and hidden key information. Compared with the earlier Regulations, this self-regulatory requirement further clarifies display formats and interaction details, making the rules more precise and imposing higher demands on institutions' front-end product iteration speed. Since late July, licensed consumer finance companies including Merchants Union Consumer Finance, China Post Consumer Finance, Mashang Consumer Finance, and Ant Consumer Finance have successively published announcements on their official websites regarding service content, pricing, and disclosure of total financing costs for personal loans. Merchants Union Consumer Finance disclosed the annualized interest rate range for personal consumer loans under normal performance conditions, calculated using simple interest, with loan principal and each fee item itemized one by one. China Post Consumer Finance issued a "Total Financing Cost Disclosure Table" and published it publicly, covering loan principal, loan interest, credit enhancement service fees, annualized total financing costs under normal performance, as well as contingent costs under default scenarios such as early repayment penalties, overdue fines, and misappropriation penalties. Mashang Consumer Finance published the cap on annualized total financing costs for personal loans under normal performance on its official website. The announcement clarifies that the annualized interest rate on its personal consumer loans ranges from 7.2% to 24%, calculated using simple interest, effective from August 1, 2026. Product pages of its brands such as Anyi Flower simultaneously display annualized interest rate information, with all fee items converted and presented at annualized levels. Ant Consumer Finance specified the annualized interest rate range for personal consumer loans under normal performance, and stated that apart from the disclosed cost items, no other loan-related fees are charged to borrowers.

Confirmation mechanism moved to the borrowing stage with post-loan bill details available for inquiry

The Regulations address whether fees are disclosed at all, while the Self-Regulatory Code further compresses operational standards into pop-up formats and reading durations. The Self-Regulatory Code requires online loans to display the disclosure table via a dedicated pop-up window, with a mandatory reading time of no less than 10 seconds. This requirement establishes a more concrete implementation standard for institutions' product flow design. Based on published information, leading institutions are accelerating the corresponding process upgrades, moving the total financing cost confirmation step to a mandatory checkpoint before contract signing. China Post Consumer Finance uses online pop-up displays and mandatory reading to ensure customers clearly understand all fee details, while unifying the fee calculation standard — loan interest and all types of fees are aggregated for display and converted into a standardized annualized total cost. Mashang Consumer Finance's loan application process features an independent disclosure pop-up that fully covers core information including loan principal, annualized interest rate, names and charging standards of each service fee, total repayment amount, repayment periods, and repayment method. The confirmation button remains unclickable until the pop-up reading countdown ends, and users must complete confirmation before entering the contract signing process. Merchants Union Consumer Finance launched a total financing cost disclosure table system that itemizes loan principal and each fee item at the core stage before loan contract signing, simultaneously displaying the annualized total financing cost under normal performance. Users must confirm before proceeding with the contract process. Post-loan bill transparency represents an extension of institutions' implementation of full-cycle fee transparency. Mashang Consumer Finance users can check bill details for each loan through multiple official channels including the official app and official mini-program. The bill page breaks down the current installment's principal, interest, fees, and other sub-items, while also displaying the total remaining principal and the repayment plan for all remaining installments. The bill display standard is consistent with pre-loan disclosures. Merchants Union Consumer Finance's bill inquiry function supports viewing principal, interest, fees, and other items with consistent information standards.

Transparency of personal loan fees is a critical component of consumer protection and serves as the foundation for high-quality development of the consumer finance industry. Wang Pengbo, chief analyst at Botong Consulting, believes that institutions relying on opaque fees and disguised charges will lose competitiveness, and industry resources will concentrate toward leading institutions with standardized pricing and full disclosure. As the Self-Regulatory Code enters its implementation phase, the industry's transparency capabilities will face a more rigorous testing period in practical application.