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Loans suffer from opaque interest charges, false publicity, and inexplicable charges; buying insurance is attracted by low premiums, and there are traps everywhere after insurance... Have you ever encountered these routines of marketing when it comes to financial consumption?
Recently, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) issued the first issue of risk tips in 2022, reminding consumers to pay attention to preventing violations of financial consumers' rights to know, independent choice, fair trade and property security.
Screenshot from China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.
Routine 1: Premium payment is automatic
Deduction and period increase
When it comes to the routine marketing of financial products, Ms. Xie, a white-collar worker in Beijing, said that she was "deeply affected by them".
"At the beginning of 2020, I joined Alipay's Mutual Treasure Serious Illness Mutual Aid Program. Advertising shows that the premium is as low as $3. Ms. Xie recalled to the China City Daily reporter that because the premium price was low, she roughly looked at the obviously marked content at that time and then invested in insurance, did not pay too much attention to the amount of mutual aid, and even forgot about it after participating in insurance.
A while ago, Ms. Xie received a call from Mutual Treasure to stop serving, and she remembered that she had bought the insurance herself.
After opening the mutual treasure, Ms. Xie found that the insurance not only automatically deducted twice a month, but also the premium was constantly rising.
Ms. Xie's premium sharing breakdown shows that since April 2020, the premium has increased from the initial $3.93 per period to the last apportionment in December 2021, and the deduction amount per period has reached more than 7 yuan.
"Internet finance is too 'convenient', as long as you allow it once, not only is the money automatically deducted every month, but there is no continuation reminder every year, and it has been deducted." Although the amount of money is small, Ms. Xie is still indignant, "the marketing advertising interface settings are not standardized and clear, and consumers have inadvertently fallen into the trap of 'receiving protection' and 'automatic renewal'." ”
In the two years since she applied for insurance, Ms. Xie has not been reimbursed once. "When I first entered the insurance, I thought that the monthly deduction was 3 yuan, who knew that in the later period, it would rise to 14 yuan for two periods per month. If you don't receive a call that the product is about to stop operating, the cost may continue to rise. Ms. Xie said.
Ms. Chen, a white-collar worker in Nanjing, has had a similar experience, telling China City Daily: "I always receive sales calls from insurance companies, selling me various insurance products and asking me if I am interested in buying. ”
Fortunately for Ms. Bi Xie, Ms. Chen did not fall into the "pit". "I've summed up their sales pitch – to lure you in with the highest sum insured. But in reality, they normally don't meet the policy maximum set by the rule. It's fine for young people, but for the elderly who don't have the ability to distinguish, these companies are suspected of inducing insurance. Ms. Chen said.
"In insurance marketing, 'routine insurance' behaviors such as premium payment before and after payment, and increasing layer by layer are induced in the name of 'preferential treatment'." For example, the relevant person in charge of the Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said that for example, some companies one-sidedly advertised "0 yuan in the first month" and "free collection", and gave people the illusion of preferential treatment with routines such as "zero down payment", in fact, the premium was apportioned to the later stage, and consumers did not really enjoy the premium discount. ”
The person in charge reminded that consumers should be vigilant against false propaganda such as concealing risks and blurring fees, and purchase financial products from formal institutions and standardized channels according to their own risk tolerance and needs. For the relevant company, all loan products should specify the annualized interest rate of the loan; insurance products should specify insurance liabilities, exclusions, insurance premium compensation or payments, and other important matters that affect the insurance decision.
Routine two: blindly induce lending,
Indebtedness, advanced consumption
"I overstayed my consumption during college and borrowed 20,000 yuan on an Internet lending platform. Later, my father gave me 10,000 yuan to repay the loan, and I borrowed 10,000 yuan from another platform. Tear down the east wall to make up for the west wall, and now I have to use part of my salary to repay the loan of that platform. Mr. Zhu, who works in Hunan, has to spend a sum of money every month to pay for his past advanced consumption.
"When I was a student, I didn't pay much attention to thrift and thrift, and the platform also encouraged advanced consumption, and it was too easy to borrow." Mr. Zhu told the China City Daily reporter that he has now decided to think bitterly and changed his consumption habits, "Fortunately, the loan amount was not very large at that time, and I did not touch those usurious loans, otherwise I would have paid a greater price." ”
Like Mr. Zhu, there are not a few young people who have entered the trap of advanced consumption because of "spending tomorrow's money and realizing today's dreams".
The reason why it is called a trap is because some young people are still in the stage of studying to spend their parents' money, and even if some have entered the workplace, the economic foundation is not solid, and once they develop the habit of advanced consumption, it is easy to evolve into excessive consumption, bringing hidden dangers to their lives and families.
Previously, the "Contemporary Youth Consumption Report" launched by bocamore consumer finance and times data said that the post-90s population in consumer loans accounted for 49.3%. The report also shows that 86.6% of young people have been exposed to credit products, of which 42.1% can be paid off in the same month; compared with credit cards, 60.9% prefer Internet installments.
The relevant person in charge of the Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said that the improper induction of Internet loan marketing infringes on consumers' right to fair trade. Some institutions or platforms analyze and abuse consumer behavior data based on their own big data resource advantages, guide and even manipulate consumer needs, such as ignoring consumers' comprehensive credit lines, repayment capabilities, repayment sources, etc., blindly inducing consumers to borrow, indebtedness, and advanced consumption, which infringes on consumers' fair trading rights to a certain extent.
In this regard, the person in charge reminded that consumers should hold a moderate debt, rational consumption concept, develop good consumption repayment habits, do not unrestrained advance consumption and excessive debt; establish a sense of integrity, do not violate the law to use personal consumption credit loans such as installments and microcredit for non-consumption areas such as financial management, investment, and loan repayment, and avoid "using loans to support loans" and "raising cards with cards".
Routine three: "full surrender" cat greasy
"Surrender wealth management" may be illegal
In addition to the above two routines, there are also some illegal gangs that target the elderly and lure consumers into "entering the game" under the guise of "surrendering insurance and financial management".
Recently, Mr. Li, who lives in Shanghai, received a text message from a person who claimed to be a customer service of the insurance company asking him to collect the dividends of the insurance policy. After Mr. Li dialed the "customer service" phone, he learned that if he wanted to receive dividends, he must first apply for a surrender or a policy pledge loan.
"The other party said that the insurance income I purchased was too low, and now the insurance company has a year-end reward for 'VIP customers' like me, and the surrender funds can be reselled 'new products', which can not only obtain higher returns, but also receive various consumption coupons." Fortunately, Mr. Li had a strong sense of prevention, and after hanging up the phone, he immediately consulted his nephew who worked in the insurance company.
"My nephew was a liar when he heard it." Mr. Li told China City Daily that his nephew told him that the newly purchased products were not the products of the original insurance company at all. And those "wealth management products" with high yields as the selling point may be suspected of illegal fundraising, which eventually causes huge losses, "What you value is the interest of others, and what people value is your principal." ”
The Beijing Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau summarized five basic characteristics of such risks: one is to take the policyholder of savings or investment insurance products as a specific target; the second is to use "high returns" as bait; the third is to invite customers in the name of insurance institutions and their sales, customer service and other practitioners; fourth, to arbitrage funds and repurchase illegal wealth management products as the ultimate purpose; fifth, the final result is the loss of consumer funds.
The relevant person in charge of the Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission reminds consumers to be vigilant against illegal "agent rights protection" infringements, treat important links such as signature and authorization with caution, and choose reasonable and legal ways to protect their rights; pay attention to reading the terms of the contract to ensure that they understand the content of the financial service agreement signed or authorized; if they have objections to products or services, they can reflect through normal complaint channels, do not participate in malicious complaints that violate the contract, provide false information, and fabricate facts, and do not credulously believe in "surrender and wealth management" and other statements.
Experts: Institutions should establish the concept of "one heart, two dimensions, three products, and four businesses"
Why are financial marketing routines emerging in an endless stream? How should financial chaos be managed?
"Some units, institutions and individuals are ignorant of profits and seek only profits, lack the heart of faith in the law, lack of reverence for risks, and lack of gratitude to financial consumers." Liu Junhai, director of the Institute of Commercial Law of Chinese Min University, said in an interview with China City Daily that financial institutions should establish the concept of "one heart, two dimensions, three products and four businesses".
He specifically explained that "one heart" is to have a grateful heart for society; "two-dimensional" that is, the right brain must have a profit-making thinking, and the left brain has a social responsibility thinking; "three products" means that financial products are continuously improved, and the quality of enterprises and managers is constantly improved; the "four businesses" include the IQ of constantly innovating products and services, the emotional intelligence that can be respected and loved by people from the heart, the legal businessmen who consciously operate according to law, and the moral businessmen who consciously practice ethical standards.
Liu Junhai believes that if the financial platform cannot be cautious and self-disciplined, reform and good, the regulatory authorities should come forward and use sufficient, good and sufficient authority granted by law to market access, administrative guidance, administrative supervision and administrative punishment, etc., and take a clear-cut stand to punish and crack down on acts that harm the rights and interests of financial consumers.
In addition, Liu Junhai reminded consumers to learn to protect themselves, "remember the four sentences, clearly and plainly read the advertisement, seriously sign the contract, calmly and calmly store evidence, and protect rights according to law and rationality." ”
■ Reporter: Zheng Xinyu Fang Ziwei