Over 20,000 complaints and a massive liquidity shock: Zhongyuan Consumer Finance pays the price for over-reliance on assisted lending.

In today’s highly competitive consumer finance market, Zhongyuan Consumer Finance (hereinafter referred to as “Zhongyuan CF”), as a licensed institution, has achieved significant growth in asset scale and profitability thanks to its high dependence on internet traffic. However, with the fading benefits of loan facilitation regulation and tightening compliance thresholds, Zhongyuan CF is undergoing a difficult breakthrough from “traffic parasitism” to “independent growth.”

In recent years, Zhongyuan CF has shown a favorable trend of sustained asset expansion and steady profit growth. Data shows that from 2022 to 2024, the company’s total assets grew from 32.37 billion yuan to 42.48 billion yuan, operating income increased from 2.65 billion yuan to 3.53 billion yuan, and net profit rose from 328 million yuan to 503 million yuan. In the first half of 2025, Zhongyuan CF continued to maintain its growth momentum, achieving revenue of 2.15 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 29.52%; net profit reached 325 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 30.4%.

The core of Zhongyuan CF’s sustained profitability lies in its internet loan facilitation and third-party customer acquisition model. As of the end of 2024, the loan balances from self-operated channels and cooperative channels accounted for 49.49% and 50.51%, respectively, with cooperative channels contributing nearly half of the loan scale. However, this model has also brought significant problems. Some self-operated businesses still rely on third-party traffic platforms for customer acquisition, creating a “dependent self-operation” pattern, which weakens the company’s bargaining power with external traffic platforms, inadequately accumulates user data and core risk control capabilities, and presents structural shortcomings for long-term development.

In addition, Zhongyuan CF has also attracted attention due to liquidity stability concerns. In the fourth quarter of 2025, the company’s liquidity ratio fell to 329.15%, a significant drop from the third quarter’s 5823.29%. Historical data shows that from 2022 to 2024, Zhongyuan CF’s liquidity ratios were 487.37%, 4521.59%, and 377.54%, exhibiting significant volatility. Although the current indicators still meet regulatory minimums, the common “short-term borrowing and long-term lending” mismatch problem in the consumer finance industry puts Zhongyuan CF at risk of liquidity chain instability when short-term funds come due or asset deployment accelerates.

While Zhongyuan CF rapidly expands its business, it is also facing a surge in user complaints. To date, there have been over 20,000 complaints against Zhongyuan CF on the Black Cat Complaints platform, with core disputes focusing on high comprehensive financing costs and opaque interest fee structures. Multiple borrowers have reported being charged additional fees such as consulting fees, guarantee fees, and membership fees, alongside normal interest, leading to significantly high overall funding costs, with actual annualized interest rates approaching regulatory red lines in some scenarios.

One user complained that they borrowed money on the Heng Xiaohua platform, with Zhongyuan CF as the lender, and were charged various fees including consulting fees, guarantee fees, membership fees, and comprehensive interest, leading the user to request a refund of 1,600 yuan in guarantee and rights fees.

Another user stated that they borrowed a principal amount of 11,000 yuan from Zhongyuan CF through the Yidehua platform, and were charged 2,462.16 yuan in guarantee fees by Shenzhen Gongying Non-Financial Guarantee Company, with a total repayment amount of 14,943.96 yuan that has been settled.

However, the user emphasized that they did not receive any substantive guarantee services throughout the borrowing process, as the guarantor did not issue a guarantee letter or fulfill any performance guarantee obligations, and neither Zhongyuan CF nor the guarantee company could provide valid evidence of the guarantee service being implemented.

Compliance risks do not stop there. According to the Tianyancha App, in January 2026, the People’s Bank of China Henan Branch issued an administrative penalty decision against Zhongyuan CF for “violating regulations on the collection, provision, inquiry, and management of credit information,” imposing a fine of 756,000 yuan. This penalty further exposes the company’s weak links in compliance management and serves as a wake-up call for the entire industry.

Facing the triple pressure of tightening regulatory compliance, narrowing profit margins, and liquidity management challenges, Zhongyuan CF must bid farewell to its reliance on the “traffic dependence + credit arbitrage” path and shift towards a high-quality development model characterized by independent customer acquisition, clear pricing, compliant risk control, and steady liquidity management. This requires the company to strengthen the construction of self-operated channels and enhance its customer acquisition capabilities; optimize the interest fee structure to ensure transparency and compliance; improve the risk control system to reduce the non-performing rate; and enhance liquidity management to ensure the stability of the capital chain.

Zhongyuan CF should establish and improve its compliance management system, strengthen the admission review and dynamic supervision of cooperative institutions, and ensure that business operations are compliant. At the same time, the company should enhance the protection and management of user information to prevent leaks and misuse. In terms of guarantee business, the company should strictly review the qualifications and credibility of guarantee institutions to ensure the substance and effectiveness of guarantee services.

Currently, Zhongyuan CF’s business is concentrated in the Central Plains region, with slow national expansion. Under the new loan facilitation regulations, online traffic is concentrating among large companies, highlighting the company’s shortcomings in national customer acquisition capabilities. Therefore, Zhongyuan CF should actively expand into the national market and enhance its brand awareness and influence through a combination of online and offline approaches. Furthermore, the company should strengthen cooperation and communication with leading platforms, learning from advanced experiences and technological methods to enhance its competitiveness.

In the context of challenges faced by traditional loan facilitation businesses, Zhongyuan CF should actively explore new business models and growth points. For example, the company can enhance off-balance-sheet loan facilitation business by combining technology output with financial service innovation; or expand business areas and profit channels through cross-industry cooperation and resource integration. These innovative measures will help the company break the constraints of traditional business models and achieve sustainable development.

As a member of the licensed consumer finance industry, Zhongyuan CF’s development history and challenges are representative. Against the backdrop of tightening regulatory compliance, narrowing profit margins, and liquidity management pressures, the company must firmly resolve to transform and shift from traffic dependence to independent growth, continuously enhancing its competitiveness and sustainable development capabilities through strengthened compliance management, national market expansion, and innovative business models. Only in this way can Zhongyuan CF maintain its position in the fierce market competition and achieve long-term development.