Fines of 2.6 Billion! Banking Industry Received 6,656 Penalty Notices Last Year: Credit Business Is the "Hardest Hit Area," Consumer Protection Not the Main Cause

(Source: JM Financial)

“3.15” International Consumer Rights Day arrives, drawing renewed attention to financial consumer rights.

According to a summary by JiJie News, in the past year 2025, banks received a total of 6,656 regulatory fines, totaling 2.66 billion yuan. A total of 1,073 banks were penalized, mainly for issues such as inadequate loan due diligence, failure to perform customer identity verification as required, illegal handling and issuance of loans, and violations of credit reporting regulations—these are the four major “hot spots.” Relatively, fines for banks infringing on consumer rights are less prominent.

However, in actual business operations, violations of consumer rights still occur from time to time. In 2025, some banks received hefty penalties due to irregularities in consumer rights protection. How to maintain the bottom line of consumer protection amid increasing market competition remains a key challenge for all banks.

What aspects are involved in violations of consumer rights?

Issues include unstandardized consumer rights protection, inadequate personal information safeguarding, infringement on consumers’ autonomous choice… The fines in 2025 involve multiple aspects of consumer rights.

In September 2025, the Beijing Regulatory Bureau of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission announced that Beijing Bank was fined a total of 5.3 million yuan for inaccurate risk classification in loans, insufficient impairment provisions in 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 Supervisory Authority for issues such as inadequate loan “three checks,” poor management of outsourced debt collection, and insufficient personal information protection. MYbank emphasized that it sincerely accepted the regulatory findings, has largely completed rectification, and will strengthen internal control compliance, operate lawfully and compliantly, and promote healthy and steady business development.

Some banks received fines related to contractual details. For example, Zhongyuan Bank’s Xinyang branch was fined 60,000 yuan for adding extraneous conditions outside the contract, infringing on consumers’ right to autonomous choice; relevant personnel were also warned.

Regulators also focus on credit card consumer rights issues. For instance, China Minsheng Bank’s Ningbo Credit Card Center and responsible personnel 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 hierarchical authorization-based management system for consumer financial information. Based on the importance, sensitivity, and business needs of the information, and without affecting the institution’s legal obligations such as anti-money laundering, they should reasonably determine the scope and authority for staff to access information, and strictly implement approval procedures for information use.

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

1073 banks fined 2.66 billion yuan

Overall industry view: According to Qiye Yujingtong data, in 2025, banks received a total of 6,656 regulatory fines, totaling 2.66 billion yuan. A total of 1,073 banks were penalized, involving multiple issues.

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

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, the Financial Regulatory Bureau issued 4,451 fines totaling 1.616 billion yuan, while the People’s Bank of China issued 1,898 fines amounting to 866.7 million yuan.

Luo Feipeng, a researcher at China Post Savings Bank, told JiJie News, “In 2025, banking regulatory penalties show a trend of both increasing volume and amount, and this trend may continue into 2026.”

According to the 2025 data analysis report released by Qiye Yujingtong, the People’s Bank, Financial Regulatory Bureau, State Administration of Foreign Exchange, and their dispatched agencies issued a total of 456 large fines exceeding one million yuan, an increase of 60 from the previous year, with the amount of large fines rising significantly.

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 Supervisory Authority for lax management of loans, bills, interbank transactions, and non-compliance in data reporting.

Rural commercial banks are key targets of regulatory rectification

Different types of banks show varying levels of regulatory focus. Rural commercial banks are the primary focus.

In terms of the number of fines, ranked from highest to lowest: rural commercial banks with 741 fines totaling 576 million yuan; state-owned banks with 647 fines totaling 643 million yuan; joint-stock banks with 412 fines totaling 738 million yuan; city commercial banks with 302 fines totaling 306 million yuan; village banks with 285 fines totaling 110 million yuan; credit cooperatives with 119 fines totaling 66.86 million yuan; policy banks with 86 fines totaling 102 million yuan; foreign banks with 18 fines totaling 26.98 million yuan; private banks with 13 fines totaling 18.51 million yuan; rural cooperative banks with 7 fines totaling 3.8 million yuan.

Wang Pengbo, senior analyst at Broadcom Financial Consulting, told JiJie News, “Rural banks have many outlets and large business volumes, making it easier for issues to be detected. Plus, many institutions have relatively weak governance and internal controls, so violations in credit, anti-money laundering, and credit reporting are common. Regulatory inspections tend to be more thorough at the grassroots level, so fines naturally concentrate on these banks.”

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 at village banks, at 387,500 yuan.

Which institutions received the most fines among different types?

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

In 2025, regulators continued to implement the “dual penalty system,” mainly imposing fines on institutions and warnings on individuals. There were 2,588 fines involving monetary penalties for institutions and 1,899 for individuals; 647 warnings for institutions and 2,625 for individuals. Additionally, 267 individual fines involved bans from certain professions or jobs, and 17 fines required disqualification of directors, supervisors, and senior managers.

Main violations include inadequate loan “three checks”

Regionally, Beijing had the highest fines, totaling 637 million yuan; Guangdong was second with 286 million yuan. In terms of the number of fines, Zhejiang topped with 602 fines (9.04%), followed by Guangdong with 542 (8.14%).

The main violations in 2025 include inadequate loan “three checks” (1604 fines), failure to perform customer identity verification as required (840 fines), illegal handling and issuance of loans (495 fines), and violations of credit reporting regulations (452 fines).

Compared to 2024, the four major “hot spots” were loan “three checks” not properly performed, illegal loan handling, violations of prudent operation rules, and inaccurate classification of credit assets.

In terms of categories, violations in credit business, internal controls, and anti-money laundering are the most serious.

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

Internal control violations totaled 1,413 fines, mainly for violations of credit reporting regulations, 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 transactions with unidentified or anonymous accounts.

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

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 breach of account management rules; and 437 fines for data reporting and governance violations, including incomplete, false, or inaccurate financial data.

Luo Feipeng told JiJie News, “Main types of bank violations include credit business violations, anti-money laundering breaches, false data reporting, corporate governance issues, and inflated deposits and loans. These often stem from: a scale-driven business model under performance pressure; an underdeveloped risk management system with superficial post-loan management; lagging compliance capabilities amid digital transformation; and imperfect corporate governance mechanisms.”

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

In terms of regulatory focus, “the main attention remains on traditional issues like credit, internal controls, and anti-money laundering, while oversight of new areas such as data governance, employee behavior, and payment settlement is also intensifying,” he summarized.