Yang Jingxin, a reporter of this newspaper, reported from Beijing
With the recovery of the consumer market, bank consumer loans and credit cards have become a key area of credit investment, and the loan interest rate of consumer loans continues to "roll" to new lows, and credit card promotions continue one after another. However, among the complaints from the banking industry in the first quarter of the regulatory announcement, the number of complaints from personal loan and credit card businesses increased, and disputes involving consumer rights protection also increased.
The reporter of "China Business News" learned that the personal loan business complaints of state-owned banks increased rapidly in the first quarter, mainly because banks set a threshold for early loan repayment in the wave of early repayment of housing loans at the beginning of the year, resulting in concentrated complaints from consumers about the bank's personal housing loan business. However, the number of complaints from consumer loans, credit cards, and other businesses remains high. Compared with the former, the market is more concerned about the problems reflected in consumer credit.
Spikes in complaints
On June 15, the State Financial Regulatory Administration reported on consumer complaints in the banking and insurance industry in the first quarter of 2023, of which about 104,900 consumer complaints were filed in the banking industry, an increase of 50.72% compared with 69,600 in the fourth quarter of 2022. The complaints focused on personal loans and credit cards, with 59,800 and 32,000 respectively.
Regulatory statistics show that in the first quarter, there were 31,200 complaints about personal loan business involving large state-owned banks, and 7,068 complaints about personal loan business involving joint-stock banks. Among them, personal loan complaints from large state-owned banks accounted for 66.1% of the total number of complaints from large state-owned banks.
A local regulator told reporters: "This is related to the wave of early repayment of housing loans at the beginning of the year. ”
It is understood that the phenomenon of queuing for early repayment of mortgages at the beginning of this year is very common. As consumers concentrate on mortgage repayment, and some banks even set thresholds for early mortgage repayment, it is difficult to prepay mortgages and the number of complaints increases. It wasn't until early February that the regulator held a special meeting to ask banks to speed up the processing of backlogs of applications and do a good job of early repayment services.
Consumer loan and credit card complaints receive more attention from the market than complaints about prepayment of mortgages, while credit card complaints from stock banks are also more numerous.
Statistics show that among the consumer complaints received and forwarded by the regulatory authorities in the first quarter, 32,000 complaints related to credit card business, accounting for 30.6% of the total number of complaints. There were 9,599 complaints from large Chinese banks and 19,132 complaints from joint-stock banks.
"The consumer business of some banks will be repeatedly complained by consumers, which has led to an increase in the number of complaints. Once the bank is complained about a lot, it will also be interviewed by the regulator. A large state-owned bank said.
Some large banks in the country believe that banks will take a rational view of consumer complaints. "At present, some gray industries specifically use complaints to put pressure on banks, and such malicious complaints are also the focus of regulatory crackdowns. Of course, regulators and banks are more concerned about some consumers' infringements, and fundamentally they still have to protect the rights and interests of consumers. ”
Financial consumption "slots"
In the current process of gradual recovery of consumption, banks are paying special attention to consumer loans and credit card business. While banks strengthen financial services, where will consumer complaints concentrate?
A market source revealed to reporters that there are many disputes over the cost of consumer loans in some banks. Many consumer loans are not directly connected between banks and consumers, but through some lending platforms. These lending platforms calculate loan interest, guarantee fees, insurance premiums and other fees separately, and the combined cost of loans for consumers will be much higher than claimed.
"This kind of complaint can be embarrassing for the bank. The loan funds are indeed put in by the bank, and the bank only charges interest, while the guarantee fee, insurance fee and other fees are not collected by the bank, so the bank will also feel very wronged. The market participant believes that this is determined by the business model and loan channel, and it is difficult to define it as the bank's consumer insurance liability.
The market source suggested that when consumers have loan needs, they should try to directly contact banks to make loans, and compare the loan costs and amounts between banks. Don't blindly believe some platforms' claims that there are no intermediary fees or other fees, and avoid falling into the consumer trap.
For credit cards, consumers also have more complaints about credit card reserves. Typically, the bank opens a reserve fund without the individual's knowledge. Although the reserve is not used, the corresponding principal and interest are paid.
The above-mentioned market participants said that banks will pop up pop-up windows to open credit card reserves from time to time on the mobile phone page, and once consumers click on the pop-up window by mistake, they may enter the process of opening reserve funds, which is the reason why some consumers do not know.
"Some consumers may have given priority to using the reserve fund and installment each time they swipe their card after opening the reserve business, which will also require higher interest payments. Some banks charge full interest on the reserve, rather than the interest on the part of the funds used, and excessive interest will also be difficult for consumers to accept. The above-mentioned market participants said.
The reporter learned that because the credit card reserve does not occupy the limit, many consumers simply understand it as the advance of the credit card, but have less understanding of its rules. After the bank issues a reserve to the consumer, it is equivalent to issuing a loan to the individual, and the interest on this fund corresponds to the amount of the reserve, not the amount of the consumer's use of the funds. For example, the bank gives the consumer a reserve of 50,000 yuan, but the consumer only uses 10,000 yuan in daily consumption, but the interest is also calculated according to 50,000 yuan. Therefore, many consumers and banks will have similar disputes over interest issues.
"Some consumers have a lack of awareness of banking products, which has led to disputes. Banks actually have a responsibility to explain the product in detail to consumers, so that consumers can know more about the product, so as to avoid some disagreements. The market participant believes that the current high number of complaints in the banking industry shows that the awareness of consumer rights protection is increasing, and on the other hand, it shows that the protection of consumer rights and interests of banking financial institutions has a long way to go.
Recently, the State Financial Regulatory Administration's "Announcement on the Work Arrangement for Financial Consumer Feedback Matters" (hereinafter referred to as "Document No. 1") was released, which is the first announcement issued by the State Financial Regulatory Administration since its listing on May 18, which is related to financial consumer protection, highlighting that one of the first tasks of the State Financial Regulatory Administration after its listing is to protect the legitimate rights and interests of financial consumers.
Document No. 1 puts forward clear requirements for the "self-discipline" of financial institutions, "financial institutions shall strictly follow the requirements for handling complaints, and actively and properly handle conflicts and disputes with financial consumers; Operate in strict accordance with laws and regulations, and put an end to violations of laws and regulations that infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of financial consumers. ”
(Editor: Zhu Ziyun Proofreader: Zhai Jun)