Chongqing Bank Halts Three Co-Lending Products, Retains Only Risk-Sharing WeBank Microloan

Chongqing Bank has updated its official list of personal internet loan products, marking a rare and decisive shift in how it structures partnerships with online platforms.

According to the bank's website, a list updated on September 15 shows that three products—Meituan's "Living Expenses" (生活费), Meituan's "Business Loan" (生意贷), and JD.com's "Gold Bar" (金条)—have been labeled as "discontinued." The only product retained is "WeiLiDai" (微粒贷), offered in partnership with Shenzhen Qianhai WeBank, which is now classified under a "joint funding (non-co-lending)" model.

Industry observers note that this approach is uncommon. It marks the first time a city commercial bank has explicitly distinguished between co-lending and joint funding models in its product disclosures, completely halting co-lending partnerships while retaining only risk-sharing arrangements. Previous adjustments by peers have typically involved "full withdrawal from partnership loans" or "reducing the number of partner institutions," rather than categorizing by business type.

A Closer Look at the Four Products

According to the bank's disclosure, the adjustment involves four partnership-based personal internet loan products. Key details on partners, business models, credit limits, and interest rates are as follows:

• WeiLiDai (微粒贷): Retained. A joint funding model where Chongqing Bank and WeBank jointly act as lenders, contributing capital proportionally, sharing interest income, and each bearing responsibility for post-lending collection and dispute resolution.
• Meituan "Living Expenses" & "Business Loan": Discontinued. A hybrid "joint loan/co-lending" model. Chongqing Bank provides funding, handles loan approval and post-lending risk monitoring. SanKuai XiaoDai provides funding and is entrusted with customer acquisition and marketing. LiangXin JinCheng is entrusted with customer acquisition, marketing, and collection.
• JD.com "Gold Bar": Discontinued. A pure co-lending model. All funds come from Chongqing Bank. YunHan Information is entrusted with customer acquisition and marketing, while SuQian ZhaoKe handles collection.

A notable detail: the three discontinued products have an interest rate cap of 24%, while the retained WeiLiDai product has a cap of 21.6%. All products offer differentiated pricing based on customer credit profiles, with actual rates subject to the loan application page.

Why the Shift? Risk Allocation at the Core

Chongqing Bank's choice between co-lending and joint funding reflects fundamental differences in risk allocation. The industry generally recognizes four common models for online loan partnerships:

1. Pure Co-Lending: Platforms leverage traffic, scenarios, and user data for customer acquisition, initial screening, and some post-lending services. Banks provide funds, conduct independent approval, and manage risk. The platform bears little credit risk; bad debts remain on the bank's balance sheet. Often summarized as "the bank provides the money, the platform provides the people."
2. Joint Loan: Banks and licensed institutions (e.g., small-loan companies, consumer finance firms) jointly provide funds and issue loans according to an agreed ratio. Both parties contribute capital.
3. Joint Funding: Both parties share risk and reward proportionally based on capital contribution. Typically, the partner's contribution per loan must be at least 30%. The bank still independently conducts risk assessment and credit approval.
4. Bank Self-Operated: The bank uses its own channels for customer acquisition, manages risk independently, and provides all funding, without relying on external partners.

Co-lending has long been the dominant model. Industry insiders point out that its persistence stems from a complementary relationship: banks have capital and licenses but lack high-frequency consumer credit scenarios, while platforms have traffic, data, and scenarios but lack low-cost funding and lending qualifications. Co-lending allowed both sides to benefit, fueling rapid industry growth.

However, the risk implications are fundamentally different. In co-lending, bad debts are primarily borne by the bank, while platform profits are tied to loan volume, creating an incentive to prioritize scale over risk control. In the joint funding model, partners must commit real capital and share losses proportionally, aligning risk appetites and investment in risk management. This is seen as more aligned with regulatory guidance emphasizing "banks' primary responsibility for independent risk control."

It is important to note that joint funding is not without barriers. Local corporate banks are generally prohibited from conducting internet loans outside their registered jurisdiction. Both parties must also meet regulatory requirements on capital adequacy, concentration limits for single partners, and total internet loan volume caps. These conditions make the model difficult for all institutions to replicate.

Chongqing Bank's Retail Asset Quality Under Pressure

The timing of Chongqing Bank's adjustment may be linked to pressure on its retail asset quality.

According to its 2026 semi-annual report, the bank's overall operations grew: total assets reached RMB 1,108.91 billion by end-June, up 7.27% from end-2025; H1 operating income was RMB 8.49 billion, up 10.79% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 3.52 billion, up 10.29%; and the overall non-performing loan (NPL) ratio was 1.11%, down 0.03 percentage points from end-2025.

However, the retail segment contracted and showed quality deterioration. By end-June, total retail loan principal was RMB 88.55 billion, down RMB 8.15 billion (8.43%) from end-2025, with its share of total loans falling from 18.28% to 15.27%. The retail NPL ratio rose to 3.32%, up 0.09 percentage points from end-2025 (which was 3.23%, compared to 1.98% in 2023). Retail NPL balances stood at approximately RMB 2.94 billion. In contrast, the corporate loan NPL ratio was only 0.76%.

One Year After the "Co-Lending New Regulations"

Chongqing Bank's move is more significant when viewed against the broader industry backdrop. In October 2025, the "Notice on Strengthening the Management of Commercial Banks' Internet Co-Lending Business to Improve Financial Service Quality and Efficiency" (commonly known as the "Co-Lending New Regulations") took effect. It requires banks' head offices to implement list-based management of platform operators and credit enhancement service providers, and to disclose and dynamically update these lists on their official websites. The regulations are approaching their one-year anniversary.

Over the past year, several banks have announced the cessation or reduction of internet co-lending partnerships. For example:

• Urumqi Bank stopped issuing partnership-based personal internet consumer loans (including joint loans and co-lending) from October 1, 2025, involving nine platform operators and eight credit enhancement service providers.
• Longjiang Bank listed its sole platform operator partner as "cooperation ceased."
• Ganzhou Bank marked all three institutions on its list as "cooperation ceased."
• Jiaxing Bank and Wenzhou Bank have also announced the cessation of internet loan partnerships.
• Guiyang Bank suspended new internet co-lending business.
• Jilin Yilian Bank significantly reduced the number of partner institutions.
• Weihai Blue Ocean Bank listed 40 institutions as "suspended" in a March 2026 disclosure.

Unlike some banks that have taken a blanket approach to exiting partnership loans, Chongqing Bank has retained joint funding while ending co-lending, effectively preserving a path that aligns risk and responsibility.

In recent years, regulators have issued a series of policies requiring banks to strengthen their primary responsibility for risk control and address issues such as unreasonable pricing and inadequate consumer protection. Industry self-regulatory organizations are also promoting the implementation of specific business standards.

On September 18, five industry associations, including the National Internet Finance Association of China, jointly issued the "Self-Regulatory Standards for Transparent Comprehensive Financing Costs in Personal Loan Business." This standard clarifies the standardized disclosure of comprehensive financing costs, aiming to further increase transparency and standardization of personal loan fees.

Wang Pengbo, a senior analyst at Botong Consulting, noted three key elements of the self-regulatory standards:

• A clear ban on using "daily interest rate" or "monthly fee rate" for conceptual packaging.
• Strengthening the primary responsibility of lending institutions, even when business is conducted through internet platforms.
• Providing standardized disclosure templates for various business scenarios, offering directly reusable templates for the entire industry.

Wang expects the cleanup of the co-lending industry to proceed smoothly, with non-compliant institutions gradually exiting. After institutions complete compliance rectification, industry operations are expected to enter a new stable state.

Looking ahead, the co-lending industry is shifting from "broad coverage" to "precise selection." Capital and resources are concentrating on leading platforms, while the survival space for smaller platforms is narrowing—a clear Matthew effect. As the first city commercial bank to explicitly distinguish between co-lending and joint funding in its official disclosures, whether Chongqing Bank's approach will be adopted by more peers, and whether it can truly address its shortcomings in self-operated business and customer acquisition, remains to be seen. The industry's true transformation may have only just begun.