Fines of 2.6 Billion! Banking Sector Received 6,656 Penalty Notices Last Year: Credit Business is a "Hard Hit Area," Consumer Protection Not the Main Reason | Jiemian Finance 315

Interface News Reporter | He Liuying

The arrival of “3.15” International Consumer Rights Day has brought renewed attention to the rights of financial consumers.

According to a review by Interface News reporters, in 2025, banks received a total of 6,656 regulatory fines, amounting to 2.66 billion yuan in penalties. A total of 1,073 banks were fined, with violations including inadequate loan due diligence, failure to perform customer identity verification as required, illegal handling and issuance of loans, and violations of credit reporting management regulations—these are the four major “hotspots.” Relatively, fines for violations of consumer rights are not prominent.

However, in actual business operations, violations of consumer rights still occur from time to time. In 2025, some banks received hefty fines due to issues related to improper consumer rights protection. How to maintain the bottom line of consumer protection in a highly competitive market remains a key challenge for all banks.

What aspects are involved in violations of consumer rights?

Issues such as unstandardized consumer rights protection, inadequate personal information safeguarding, and infringement on consumers’ autonomous choice rights are involved in the 2025 fines, covering multiple areas.

In September 2025, the Beijing Regulatory Bureau of the China Financial Supervision and Administration disclosed that Beijing Bank was fined a total of 5.3 million yuan for inaccurate loan risk classification, insufficient impairment provisions for financial investment business, illegal bill handling, inaccurate loan data, unstandardized consumer rights protection, inadequate pre-loan investigation for commercial mortgage loans, and illegal financing for land reserve projects. Two related personnel were also warned and fined 50,000 yuan.

In May 2025, MYbank stated that the bank was fined 1.05 million yuan by the Zhejiang Regulatory Bureau of the China Financial Supervision and Administration for issues including inadequate “three checks” during lending, poor management of outsourced collection, and inadequate personal information protection. MYbank emphasized that it sincerely accepted the regulatory findings, has basically completed rectification, and will strengthen internal control compliance management, operate lawfully and compliantly, and promote healthy and steady business development.

Some banks received fines related to contract details. For example, Zhongyuan Bank’s Xinyang branch was fined 60,000 yuan by the Xinyang Financial Regulatory Bureau for adding extraneous conditions outside the contract, infringing on consumers’ autonomous choice rights. Relevant personnel were also warned.

Regulatory agencies also pay attention to credit card consumer rights issues. For instance, the Ningbo branch of China Minsheng Bank’s credit card center and related responsible persons were fined 300,000 yuan due to poor management of customer information, and the responsible persons were warned.

It is worth noting that issues related to the use of consumer financial information also deserve attention. Last year, Luliang Xiaoyi Huitong Village Bank was warned and fined 188,000 yuan for illegal behavior including “failing to establish a hierarchical authorization-based consumer financial information management system.”

According to the “Measures for the Implementation of Financial Consumer Rights Protection” by the People’s Bank of China, banks and payment institutions should establish a consumer financial information management system centered on hierarchical authorization. Based on the importance, sensitivity, and business needs of consumer financial information, they should reasonably determine the scope and authority for staff to access information without affecting their legal obligations such as anti-money laundering. Strictly implement approval procedures for information use authorization.

It can be seen that as consumer rights protection continues to deepen, regulatory oversight of the banking industry is further strengthening.

1073 banks fined 2.66 billion yuan

From an industry-wide perspective, according to Enterprise Early Warning data, in 2025, banks received a total of 6,656 regulatory fines, totaling 2.66 billion yuan. A total of 1,073 banks were fined, involving multiple issues.

Year-over-year, the number of fines, total penalties, and the number of fined banks all increased. In 2024, banks received 6,529 fines, with penalties totaling 1.816 billion yuan, and 1,036 banks were fined.

In terms of the number of fines, rural commercial banks received the most, with 741 institutional fines and 1,430 individual fines. In terms of total penalties, joint-stock banks had the highest amount, with 738 million yuan in fines for institutions and 14.9 million yuan for individuals.

Regarding regulatory authorities, fines issued by financial regulatory bureaus totaled 4,451, amounting to 1.616 billion yuan; those issued by the People’s Bank of China totaled 1,898 fines, with penalties of 866.7 million yuan.

Luo Feipeng, a researcher at China Post Savings Bank, told Interface News that “the regulatory penalties in the banking industry in 2025 show a trend of both increasing quantity and amount, and this trend may continue into 2026.”

Based on the analysis report of the 2025 data released by Enterprise Early Warning, in 2025, the People’s Bank of China, financial regulatory bureaus, foreign exchange bureaus, and their dispatched agencies issued a total of 456 large fines exceeding one million yuan, an increase of 60 from the previous year, with a significant rise in the amount of large fines.

High-profile fines are often disclosed, such as on September 5, 2025, when Huaxia Bank was fined 87.25 million yuan by the China Financial Supervision and Administration for lax management of related loans, bills, interbank transactions, and non-compliance in data reporting.

Rural commercial banks are the focus of regulatory rectification

Different types of banks show that rural commercial banks are the main focus of regulatory rectification.

In terms of institutional fines, ranked by quantity, rural commercial banks received 741 fines totaling 576 million yuan; state-owned banks received 647 fines totaling 643 million yuan; joint-stock banks received 412 fines totaling 738 million yuan; city commercial banks received 302 fines totaling 306 million yuan; village and township banks received 285 fines totaling 110 million yuan; credit cooperatives received 119 fines totaling 66.86 million yuan; policy banks received 86 fines totaling 102 million yuan; foreign banks received 18 fines totaling 26.98 million yuan; private banks received 13 fines totaling 18.51 million yuan; rural cooperative banks received 7 fines totaling 3.8 million yuan.

Wang Pengbo, a senior analyst at Broadcom Financial Consulting, told Interface News that “rural commercial banks have many outlets and large business volumes, making it easier to find problems. Plus, many institutions have relatively weak governance and internal controls, so violations in credit, anti-money laundering, and credit reporting are common, and regulatory inspections tend to be more detailed at the grassroots level, naturally leading to more fines.”

In terms of average fine amount, state-owned banks, joint-stock banks, city commercial banks, policy banks, foreign banks, and private banks all have fines exceeding one million yuan, with the lowest average being village and township banks at 387,500 yuan.

Among different types of institutions, which received the most fines?

Data shows that among policy banks, the Agricultural Development Bank received the most fines, with 143 fines and penalties of 54.83 million yuan; among state-owned banks, ICBC received the most fines, with 335 fines and penalties of 142 million yuan; among joint-stock banks, CCB received the most fines, with 136 fines and penalties of 56.77 million yuan. In terms of penalties, Huaxia Bank and Guangfa Bank ranked first and second, each exceeding 1 billion yuan; among city commercial banks, Huishang Bank received 62 fines with penalties of 18.45 million yuan; among rural commercial banks, Guangdong Lufeng Rural Commercial Bank received 28 fines with penalties of 1.25 million yuan, while Chongqing Rural Commercial Bank, Shenzhen Rural Commercial Bank, and Beijing Rural Commercial Bank had penalties exceeding 10 million yuan.

In 2025, regulatory agencies continued to implement the “dual penalty system,” mainly focusing on fines for institutions and warnings for individuals. There were 2,588 fines involving monetary penalties and 1,899 warnings for individuals; 647 warnings for institutions and 2,625 for individuals. Additionally, 267 personal bans on related professions or employment were issued, and 17 individual fines required the cancellation of director, supervisor, and senior management qualifications.

Main violations include inadequate “three checks” during loans

Regionally, Beijing had the highest penalties, totaling 637 million yuan; Guangdong was second with 286 million yuan. In terms of fines, Zhejiang had the most, with 602 fines accounting for 9.04%; Guangdong followed with 542 fines, or 8.14%.

The main violations in 2025 include inadequate “three checks” during loans, failure to perform customer identity verification as required, illegal handling and issuance of loans, and violations of credit reporting management regulations. The fines for these violations reached 1,604, 840, 495, and 452 respectively.

Compared to 2024, the four major “hotspots” were inadequate “three checks,” illegal handling and issuance of loans, violations of prudent operation rules, and inaccurate classification of credit assets.

In broad categories, violations mainly involve credit business, internal controls, and anti-money laundering.

Major violation areas include credit, anti-money laundering, data reporting, corporate governance, and false asset reporting

The most frequent violations involve credit business, with 3,064 fines, mainly for inadequate “three checks,” illegal loan handling, and inaccurate classification of credit assets.

Violations related to internal control systems totaled 1,413, mainly for breaches of credit reporting management, prudent operation rules, and consumer rights protection.

Anti-money laundering violations numbered 1,352, mainly for failure to perform customer identity verification, failure to report large or suspicious transactions, and dealing with unidentified customers or opening anonymous accounts.

Other key areas include employee misconduct, payment business violations, and data violations.

There were 510 fines related to employee misconduct, mainly for illegal solicitation or acceptance of bribes; 481 fines for violations in payment and settlement business, such as violating account management or settlement rules; and 437 fines for data reporting and governance violations, including incomplete, false, or inaccurate regulatory data.

Luo Feipeng told Interface News that “the main types of bank violations include credit business violations, anti-money laundering violations, false data reporting, corporate governance issues, and inflated deposits and loans. These issues stem from: first, a scale-driven business model leading to violations under performance pressure; second, an underdeveloped risk management system with superficial post-loan management; third, lagging compliance capacity in digital transformation; and fourth, imperfect corporate governance mechanisms.”

Wang Pengbo believes that the banking industry is now in a state of normalized strict regulation, with increasing fines in both quantity and amount, and more cases of joint penalties on institutions and responsible persons.

In terms of regulatory focus, “the main areas remain credit, internal controls, and anti-money laundering, while oversight of data governance, employee behavior, and payment settlement is also continuously strengthening,” Wang summarized.