Following the September 15 trending topic claiming "platform monthly payment options would be removed from checkout," the discussion continued to escalate the next day. Many users found themselves puzzled, wondering whether commonly used services like Huabei, Baitiao, Douyin Monthly Pay, and Meituan Monthly Pay would no longer be available for online shopping or food delivery. Amid the controversy, concerns, and varying interpretations, a hands-on test of several mainstream internet platform checkout pages on September 16 revealed that these installment products have not been taken down, though their presentation has changed substantially. Alipay, WeChat Pay, and Meituan Monthly Pay, among others, have already completed the segregation overhaul, moving credit products out of the direct payment flow and into a dedicated credit section.
This wave of change stems from the "Measures for the Management of Online Marketing of Financial Products," jointly issued by eight government departments including the People's Bank of China, set to take effect on September 30. Article 12 clearly stipulates that non-bank payment institutions must not list financial products such as loans or asset management products as payment tool options, nor provide marketing services for them. This seemingly minor page adjustment is, in fact, the most thorough regulatory correction to date for internet finance scenario-based marketing, putting an end to the industry's long-standing unspoken rule of mixing borrowing options into the default payment list.
Heads-up Platforms Lead the Way: Credit Products Moved to Dedicated Sections
In the wake of the trending topic, social media was split between two camps. One group applauded the change, criticizing how credit products often appeared at the top of checkout pages, making it all too easy to accidentally borrow for purchases. The other group expressed concern, worried that the buy-now-pay-later services they relied on might be discontinued. To clarify, a hands-on test was conducted on September 16 across multiple platforms including Taobao, WeChat, Alipay, Douyin, JD.com, Meituan, Didi, and Vipshop. The findings showed that many platforms have completed compliance upgrades, with visible page changes, though the degree of implementation varies, and some platforms are still lagging behind.
A closer look at WeChat Pay's checkout page, for instance, reveals a clear division into five sections: Wealth Management, Bank Cards, Digital RMB, Credit, and Other. Services like Change (Lingqiantong), various debit cards, and digital RMB wallets are grouped at the top, while Fenfu (installment service) is tucked away in the Credit category at the bottom, completely separate from standard payment options and no longer mixed with bank cards or balance. Alipay follows a similar pattern, with its checkout page now segregating categories such as bank card payments, Yu'ebao, payment tools, credit, and installment payments. Huabei and Huabei Installment are placed in the Credit and Installment sections respectively, no longer mingled with basic payment lists. The page also displays installment interest rates and national subsidy information, clearly identifying these as consumer finance services.
Meituan's checkout page is also divided into three main sections: Meituan Pay, Financial Services, and Other Payment Methods. Debit and credit cards sit under Meituan Pay, while Meituan Monthly Pay falls under Financial Services, with Alipay, WeChat Pay, and UnionPay QuickPass listed under other methods. Similarly, Vipshop's page now has three sections: Vip Pay, Credit, and Other Payment Methods. Debit cards are under Vip Pay, credit card installments are in the independent credit section, and third-party options like digital RMB and WeChat Pay are in other methods, achieving a physical separation between credit and payment.
"The leading platforms completing this checkout segregation first is a proactive response to regulatory requirements and an exploratory step in the right direction," commented Tian Lihui, a finance professor at Nankai University. He noted that the core purpose of separating wealth management, credit, payment, and balance displays is to clarify the boundaries of different financial products. Balance and bank cards are tools for users' own funds, while credit and wealth management carry debt or investment attributes. Their risk profiles and usage logic are fundamentally different. From Tian's perspective, this adjustment eliminates the possibility of platforms exploiting users' payment habits to blur the line between spending one's own money and borrowing, preventing users from unknowingly or mistakenly activating credit services or purchasing wealth products. This not only protects the right to know and choose for financial consumers, especially the elderly and young people, but also clarifies the boundary between payment and financial businesses, guarding against risk transmission across sectors.
Clarification: Monthly Pay Isn't Being Shut Down; It's About Banning 'Credit Disguised as Payment'
The recent uproar stems from the "Measures for the Management of Online Marketing of Financial Products," set to take effect September 30. Article 12 specifies that non-bank payment institutions must not include financial products like loans or asset management products as payment tool options, nor provide marketing services for them. Some interpretations have taken "not listed as payment tool options" to mean "not displayed on the checkout page," leading to the conclusion that these services "can no longer be used for payment."
"This interpretation misses the mark," an industry insider close to regulators told our reporter. The earlier Q&A session by the eight departments made it clear that "not listed as payment tool options" means payment institutions must display payment tools separately from financial products like loans on the checkout page, avoiding any misleading or confusion. Under the new rules, user payment channels will be presented by category. Products like Huabei, Baitiao, and Monthly Pay, which are credit products, will fall under the credit category without affecting their normal use. It's important to note that the measures target "mixed marketing practices," not the credit products themselves.
Our reporter verified with multiple platforms that Huabei, Baitiao, and various monthly pay services are operating normally, with no changes to services, limits, statements, or repayment systems, and no plans for delisting or removal. Meituan's financial customer service confirmed that Meituan Monthly Pay remains available through the Meituan App, with the platform adhering to national regulations and continuously optimizing user experience, with specific display methods subject to the App's actual interface. Douyin Monthly Pay's customer service stated they had received no such notice, deferring to the page display. JD Baitiao's customer service confirmed normal operations with no plans to exit payment options. Alipay's official customer service noted that Huabei and Yu'ebao can still be used for payment normally, with the checkout page already updated per new regulations, dividing categories into bank cards, payment tools, credit, wealth management, and installment payments, each presented independently.
Wang Pengbo, chief analyst at Botong Consulting, explained that for any given transaction, the source of funds and product nature differ completely between using one's own funds, credit limits, or wealth products. At the payment stage, users typically want to complete transactions quickly. If various financial products are mixed together, compounded by default selections, sort recommendations, or marketing prompts, users might inadvertently use credit services, leading to disputes and excessive borrowing risks. "The core intent of regulation is to end the industry's decade-long bundled marketing model of 'traffic generation through payments, monetization through finance,' solving long-standing problems like default credit selections, induced installment activation, and unconscious borrowing. This not only builds a defense line for consumer rights but also pushes the payment industry back to its fundamentals, standardizes the online marketing order of financial products, prevents uncontrolled spread of internet financial risks, and maintains financial market stability," Tian Lihui elaborated.
Challenges: Some E-commerce Platforms Lag Behind, Facing Four Practical Constraints
The hands-on test revealed that platforms which have completed the upgrade show significant improvement in payment experience. The new checkout pages clearly separate basic payment areas from credit service sections, with complete isolation in visuals, layout, and text. Bank cards, balances, change, and digital RMB remain in the basic payment tools section as methods using users' own funds. Huabei, Baitiao, various monthly pay options, and installment credit have all been removed from the main payment list and consolidated into a dedicated credit section. Furthermore, credit options are no longer set by default, allowing users to choose independently if they wish to use monthly pay products, thus avoiding unintentional borrowing.
However, some e-commerce platforms have been slower to adapt, with credit products still displayed alongside bank cards and balances as payment options, lacking full physical segregation. According to the test results, one e-commerce platform's payment page places monthly pay products at the very front without labeling them as "financial" or "credit." Another platform lists Alipay, Huabei, installment payment, UnionPay QuickPass, digital RMB, and WeChat Pay in sequence without any distinction between product types. A third platform has segregated credit products into a separate section but fails to explicitly label it as "financial" or "credit," merely noting that credit purchase services are provided by relevant financial institutions.
What makes the e-commerce transformation so difficult? Wang Pengbo further explained four practical constraints. First, the direct responsibility under the "Measures" primarily falls on licensed financial institutions, with e-commerce platforms as the partner in the chain. Rectification plans require financial institutions to lead and platforms to coordinate implementation, involving alignment on schedules, development resources, and business priorities, which cannot be quickly decided and launched by the platform alone. Second, in e-commerce scenarios, consumer credit and installment monetization yield substantial returns. Embedding credit products in the transaction chain directly boosts platform GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume) and generates interest and fee-sharing income. Platforms naturally have an incentive to buffer the pace of rectification to minimize short-term business impact. Third, the system overhaul is massive. "The installment entry point isn't a simple ad slot; it's deeply integrated into the entire transaction chain, including product detail pages, shopping carts, checkout, coupons, and marketing campaigns. Achieving physical segregation, redirecting to institutional self-operated pages, and adding risk warnings requires coordination across front-end, back-end, and risk control teams, with changes affecting the whole system," Wang noted. The long-established "promotion + finance" conversion logic needs to be rebuilt from scratch, forcing platforms to find a new balance between compliance, user shopping experience, and commercial gains. Fourth, as Tian Lihui pointed out, September 30 is the implementation date for the new regulations. All apps involved must complete checkout modifications by then, ensuring physical segregation between payment tools and financial products, with platforms expected to accelerate rectification during the transition period.
Governance: Targeting Deep-Rooted Mixed Marketing to Prevent 'Unconscious Debt' at the Source
For years, the mixed layout of internet platform checkouts has bred hidden financial risks. Many consumers, particularly students, the elderly, and infrequent online shoppers, cannot quickly distinguish between "own funds" and "credit funds." The fast checkout process, dense options, and tempting promotions have led a significant number of users to incur borrowing or installment behavior without full awareness, resulting in later bill pressure, loan defaults, and even disputes.
Industry insiders believe this regulatory zone-based overhaul essentially establishes a right-to-know barrier in the nationwide consumer payment process, preventing platforms from exploiting operational inertia, profiting from page positioning, or enticing implicit borrowing through promotions. As Dong Ximiao, chief economist at China Merchants Union Consumption Finance, pointed out, some platforms previously displayed credit products alongside payment tools like bank cards and balances, sometimes even as default selections, leading users into "unconscious borrowing" and excessive debt. The new requirement for segregated display can reduce misuse at the source.
This page adjustment also signals a shift in the entire consumer credit industry logic. Previously, monthly pay products relied on the ultra-high exposure of the checkout page, default front positioning, and scenario placement for conversion—a classic "scenario traffic monetization" model. After the overhaul, credit products may lose their core traffic gateway, transitioning from passive recommendation to active choice. Tian Lihui noted that mandatory checkout segregation will completely overturn the core commercial logic of internet platforms relying on "high-frequency payment entry points to drive financial monetization." First, revenue structure will be restructured, with financial referral fees and co-lending income from payment scenarios potentially declining, conversion paths lengthening, and customer acquisition costs rising. Second, competition logic will shift from a "traffic race" based on scale to a "compliance race" based on regulatory adherence and product service quality. Third, business models will change, forcing platforms away from dependence on payment entry points and toward user-centric compliant service models.
With September 30 as the final deadline, all payment scenarios will achieve complete separation of payments and credit. For the way forward, Tian suggests platforms should proactively optimize the display logic of credit and wealth management sections, ensure transparent disclosure of key information like annualized interest rates and risk warnings, explore precise service recommendations based on genuine user needs, and abandon inducement-style marketing. Additionally, regulators could introduce supporting implementation rules to define specific standards for segregated display while establishing dynamic oversight mechanisms, balancing financial innovation with risk prevention.
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