From Xianyu, Fliggy to DingTalk, news about Alibaba's apps entering the credit business has been frequent recently.

According to Alibaba Group's official website, as of June 2024, its businesses are divided into Taobao Group, Cloud Intelligence Group, Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group, Cainiao Network, Local Life Services Group, Digital Media and Entertainment Group, and Other Businesses, totaling 26 brands and apps.

The New Economy Observation Team has sorted out that, in addition to the already separated Ant Group and its licensed financial institutions such as Ant Consumer Finance, Mybank, and Alipay, seven Alibaba apps including Xianyu, Fliggy, DingTalk, as well as Amap, UC Browser, Youku, and Ele.me, have all launched loan assistance services. It can be said that these Alibaba apps, with their massive user bases, have achieved financial monetization in batches.

1. Xianyu: Number of Loan Assistance Partners Increased to Five

The latest news is that in early July, Xianyu, the second-hand e-commerce platform with 500 million users, also launched a "Borrow Money" service with a maximum limit of 200,000 yuan and an annual interest rate starting at 4.8%. Like Fliggy and DingTalk, due to the lack of necessary financial licenses, Xianyu's borrowing model is a loan assistance model, with loans provided by third-party financial institutions.

On July 23, the New Economy Observation Team found on the Xianyu page that its "Borrow Money" channel displays partners such as Duer, PPDai, and Mafengwo, but after further checking the "Xianyu Community Borrow Money Channel Service Description," it is discovered that Xianyu has also embedded other partners, including Zhongyuan Consumer Finance and Baixin Bank. Therefore, Xianyu's current loan assistance partners are five.

Regarding the entry of second-hand e-commerce platforms like Xianyu into loan assistance, Su Xiaorui, a senior researcher at Suxi Zhiyan, said that this model is a natural fit between second-hand e-commerce and lending institutions, aiming to tap into the consumer finance potential of young customer groups. However, it is also necessary to pay attention to the compliance of traffic diversion.

2. Fliggy: Interest Rate Reduced to 2.96%, Number of Partners Increased to Nine, Recruiting Credit Managers with Monthly Salaries of 20,000 Yuan

At the end of June this year, Fliggy, Alibaba's OTA giant, launched its lending business.

On July 19, the New Economy Observation Team found that Fliggy's credit business continued to expand, with its displayed minimum annualized interest rate reduced to 2.96%. Partners include Xinwang Bank, Zhongyuan Consumer Finance, Duer, PPDai, Mafengwo Consumer Finance, CITIC Baixin Bank, Shenzhen Xiaoying Puhui Technology, Haier Consumer Finance, and Juzishuke, totaling nine institutions and platforms.

In addition, Fliggy is currently recruiting for financial positions such as Business Development - Payment Finance, User Operations - Payment Finance, and Senior Product Manager - Financial Credit, with monthly salaries ranging from 10-20K.

3. DingTalk: Launched Loan Assistance in July Last Year, Currently Partnering with Suning Bank, etc.

In July last year, DingTalk, the cloud office giant under Alibaba Group, quietly entered the lending business. The first batch of partners included four licensed financial institutions such as Xinwang Bank and Baixin Bank.

On August 11 of the same year, the New Economy Observation Team found on the DingTalk app that its loan assistance business continued to expand, with partners increased to six, including Xinwang Bank, Baixin Bank, Hangyin Consumer Finance, Zhongyuan Consumer Finance, Mafengwo Consumer Finance, and Hello (i.e., Hello Mobility).

However, on July 23, the New Economy Observation Team did not find a list of partners on the "Borrow Money" page of the DingTalk app. DingTalk only stated that loan services are provided by commercial banks and licensed financial institutions, including but not limited to Ningbo Bank and Suning Bank.

4. Amap: Partners with Mafengwo Consumer Finance for Lending

Alibaba's Amap also launched its borrowing service early on. Currently, its borrowing service is hidden under the "Wallet Coupons" section, operated by Beijing Yunying Zhishu Technology Co., Ltd., which mainly cooperates with Mafengwo Consumer Finance to carry out loan assistance business, with a maximum limit of 200,000 yuan and an annual interest rate starting at 10.8%. The former is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amap.

Amap's "Borrow Money" Page

5. Ele.me: Loan Assistance + Loan Supermarket, Directing Traffic to 11 Loan Products

As early as 2017, Ele.me began experimenting with financial services and launched a "Small Loans" feature to direct traffic to cash loan products.

Currently, Ele.me's layout in the loan assistance field is relatively deep. Its "Borrow Money" page shows a maximum loanable amount of 200,000 yuan with an annual interest rate of 3.98%-24%. The partners displayed at the bottom of the page are Ningbo Bank, Baixin Bank, and Duer. Its "Borrow Money Service Agreement" states that the borrowing service is operated by Ele.me, providing services including but not limited to viewing financial institutions, credit line information, and query usage details.

In addition to loan assistance, Ele.me has also launched a loan supermarket and "Boss Loan" for small and micro-enterprises.

Ele.me's Borrow Money Service Page

Among them, the loan supermarket directs traffic to 11 "Selected Loan" products, including Minsheng Yidai, Yixin, Huoshanrong, Haier Consumer Finance - Gouhua, 58 Haojie, etc., while "Large Amount Easy Loan" only directs traffic to Yixin, with a maximum loanable amount of 1 million yuan.

6. Youku Video: Directs Traffic to Six Loan Platforms

Youku's "Borrow Money" page shows that this service and its activity page are provided by Jianquanyi, which is operated by Beijing Ruixun Lingtong Technology Co., Ltd. (abbreviated as "Ruixun Lingtong"). After equity penetration, it is found that the company's actual controllers include Jiang Fang, Zhang Yong, and other senior executives of Alibaba Group. Prior to September 26, 2023, the company's sole shareholder was Zhejiang Taobao Network Co., Ltd.

Currently, Youku directs traffic to six platforms such as Fenqile, Duer, and Anyihua through "Jianquanyi".

7. UC Browser: Directs Traffic to Four Products

Compared to the above six platforms, UC Browser has the weakest layout in loan assistance. Currently, its "Borrow Money" section only directs traffic to four platforms such as Duer and 360 Jitiao. The bottom of the page shows that the above products are provided by third parties, and UC only provides information display.

UC Browser's Borrow Money Page

Consolidating the information into a table reveals even more significant differences in the credit layouts of Alibaba's seven apps.

From the table, it can be seen that the platforms under Alibaba that carry out loan assistance business are concentrated in Local Life Services, Digital Media and Entertainment, and Other Businesses, all of which belong to sectors with lower revenue contribution rates and some of which are continuously losing money.

Among them, Local Life Services was once Alibaba Group's "blood-losing giant" with hundreds of millions of yuan in losses each year. Alibaba Group's fiscal year 2024 report shows that the Local Life Services Group's annual revenue increased to 59.802 billion yuan, up 19% year-on-year. During the same period, the Local Life Services segment lost 9.812 billion yuan, a decrease of over 25% compared to the previous fiscal year (13.148 billion yuan).

For the quarter ended March 31, 2024, the Local Life Services Group's revenue increased by 19% year-on-year to RMB 14.628 billion (USD 2.026 billion), driven by Ele.me and Amap. The Local Life Services Group's losses continued to narrow.

During the same period, the Digital Media and Entertainment Group's revenue was 4.945 billion yuan (USD 685 million), a decrease of 1% due to a slight decline in Youku's revenue.

It can be seen that although the Local Life Services segment has grown rapidly in recent years, it is still in a state of overall loss, and there is still a long way to go to turn the tide. With hundreds of millions of users and close integration with daily life scenarios, Ele.me's launch of loan assistance and loan supermarkets to realize financial monetization, enrich user services, and enhance user stickiness is understandable.

However, with increasingly strict financial supervision today, loan assistance is not a business that can be easily profited from.

On July 11, the National Internet Finance Association issued relevant regulations on financial institutions entrusting third-party internet platforms to carry out loan online marketing activities, directly "calling out" to third-party internet platforms, requiring them to establish corresponding norms, such as verifying the lending business qualifications of financial institutions and not abusing their market position.

The above apps backed by Alibaba Group, while enjoying the gift of traffic, should also set an example as leading platforms, conduct sound evaluations of their partners, and stay away from platforms with incomplete compliance construction. It is hoped that with the increasing difficulty of acquiring customers in the consumer finance industry, the entry of these platforms will inject fresh blood into the industry.

*Disclaimer: The New Economy Observation Team publishes this article for the purpose of conveying more information and does not constitute any advice. Original articles may not be reprinted without authorization.