Taikang Online teams up with Tongdun Technology, the practice of bundling insurance with loans has triggered a massive number of complaints

Ask AI · How Taikang Online and Tongdun Technology Use Loan Scenarios to Hide Insurance Bundling?

During the “3·15” International Consumer Rights Day in 2026, Sina Financial Research Institute released the “2026 315 Financial Complaint Black and Red List,” unexpectedly revealing a hidden and large-scale利益链 in the internet finance sector—the forced bundling of insurance in loan scenarios.

This “gray market” operation, jointly run by Taikang Online, Tongdun Technology (through Jinfeng Insurance Brokerage), and dozens of online lending platforms, has caused millions of borrowers to be unknowingly “insured,” passively incurring extra charges every month; meanwhile, the institutions behind it rake in billions in premiums annually, pushing the boundaries of compliance and provoking numerous consumer complaints.

Hidden Tricks in Default Checkboxes

“I only borrowed 12k yuan for emergencies, how did I suddenly get charged nearly 600 yuan for insurance?” This incident from Wuhan resident Mr. Zhang exemplifies the scam of insurance bundling in loans.

Media reports show that from September 2025 to February 2026, Mr. Zhang, needing cash flow, borrowed a total of 12k yuan multiple times on the Fenqile platform. Reflecting on the process, he said the pages were full of prominent “Fast Loan” and “One-Click Disbursement” buttons, guiding users to quick actions without any mention of insurance.

It wasn’t until March 2026, when reviewing his bank statements, that Mr. Zhang discovered anomalies: from the first month of borrowing, his bank account was automatically debited 98.6 yuan monthly by “Jinfeng (Shanghai) Insurance Brokerage Co., Ltd.,” totaling 591.6 yuan over six months. “I never actively purchased any insurance, never received an insurance contract or confirmation SMS, and I don’t even know what Jinfeng Insurance Brokerage is.”

With doubts, Mr. Zhang re-logged into the Fenqile app and found at the bottom corner of the loan page a barely legible line of tiny text—“Checking will obtain loan protection services”—and this option was pre-selected. “When you’re in urgent need of money, who reads every tiny word at the bottom of the page? This is clearly a trap designed on purpose—offering a loan on the surface, but secretly forcing insurance bundling,” he said angrily.

The path to rights protection was exhausting: Jinfeng Insurance Brokerage’s customer service was often busy; when finally reached, they refused full refund citing “insurance authorization completed”; Fenqile platform deflected responsibility, claiming the insurance was sold by a third-party broker, unrelated to the platform, and they bore no responsibility.

Fast Media noticed that Mr. Zhang’s experience is not unique. As the core partner platform of Jinfeng Insurance Brokerage, Fenqile’s complaint volume has long been high. According to the Black Cat Complaint platform, by mid-March 2026, Fenqile had accumulated over 160k valid complaints, with more than 70% related to opaque interest and fees, hidden charges, and bundled sales. Many complaints explicitly pointed to issues like “being automatically charged by Jinfeng Insurance Brokerage without notification during borrowing” and “default checkboxes for insurance, no way to cancel.”

Deeper investigation reveals that this gray business model has formed a tripartite closed loop of “loan platform + insurance broker + insurance company,” with clear division of labor and close cooperation, precisely targeting borrowers in urgent need of funds.

Loan platforms (like Fenqile, Du Xiaoman, etc.) serve as traffic gateways, bringing users with borrowing needs into the scene by designing complicated pages, emphasizing “fast disbursement,” hiding insurance options, and guiding users to passively check boxes; Jinfeng Insurance Brokerage acts as an intermediary, connecting loan platforms with insurance companies, completing user authorization (mostly passive and without awareness) and automatic deductions, bearing front-end regulatory risks; Taikang Online, as the insurance product provider, underwrites and collects premiums, enjoying huge profits.

Industry estimates suggest that this insurance bundling mode in loans generally charges an annualized premium rate of 20%-30%, far above normal guarantee insurance rates. Just the business line between Taikang Online and Jinfeng Insurance Brokerage can generate billions in premiums annually, making it a core growth driver for Taikang Online’s internet insurance business.

The “Shadow Partnership” Between Tongdun Technology and Taikang Online

Unveiling this illegal operation reveals a deep利益绑定 among Tongdun Technology, Taikang Online, and Jinfeng Insurance Brokerage. The three entities cleverly layout to evade regulatory red lines while achieving dual flow and profit harvesting.

Jinfeng (Shanghai) Insurance Brokerage appears as an ordinary intermediary but is actually Tongdun Technology’s “licensed tool.” Its core value lies in holding an insurance brokerage license. Equity disclosures show Jinfeng is 100% controlled by Tongdun Technology’s core entity, Xiaodun Future; its legal representatives and former executives also hold key positions in Tongdun Technology, indicating a deep connection.

More notably, this company, with a registered capital of 50 million yuan, has only one insured person, no offline outlets or sales teams—typical “shell” licensed intermediary. Its core business is to leverage Tongdun Technology’s resources to connect with loan platforms and conduct insurance bundling.

As an AI-driven risk control unicorn, Tongdun Technology has long provided risk management services for mainstream online lending platforms like Fenqile, holding massive user data to realize “risk control on the left, insurance sales on the right,” embedding insurance products into loan processes via Jinfeng Insurance Brokerage to maximize data value.

Taikang Online, as an internet property and casualty insurance subsidiary of Taikang Group, lacks an insurance brokerage license itself and cannot directly sell insurance in loan scenarios. Its deep cooperation with Jinfeng Insurance Brokerage is the best solution. The two signed an exclusive agreement early on, clarifying that Taikang Online provides insurance products and underwrites, while Jinfeng handles platform connection, sales, and deductions.

Taikang Online’s choice of Jinfeng Insurance Brokerage aims to “avoid regulation, gain traffic, and隔风险”: leveraging Jinfeng’s license for apparent compliance, using Tongdun’s data to target precise borrowers, with Jinfeng bearing front-end regulatory risks, thus protecting its own and Taikang Group’s brand reputation.

High Complaint Volumes

Driven by huge profits, the joint operation of Jinfeng Insurance Brokerage and Taikang Online has triggered collective consumer complaints.

Complaint data shows a surge: besides over 2,000 direct complaints on Black Cat, platforms like Consumer Protection, 12315, Xiaohongshu, etc., also have many related reports.

These complaints mainly focus on three issues: first, uninformed insurance; the insurance option is deliberately hidden without any risk or rate disclosure; second, aggressive deduction—without user password input or SMS alerts, premiums are directly deducted from bank accounts or loan disbursements; third, difficulty in canceling—hidden cancellation options, complicated procedures, customer service evasion, and some consumers being refused full refunds.

Specifically, some consumers report borrowing 3,000 yuan but only receiving about 2,700 yuan, with over 300 yuan deducted as insurance, and only about 50 yuan refunded after cancellation; others said they were unknowingly insured for a year, with nearly 1,200 yuan deducted cumulatively, and repeated rights claims failed.

Regulatory authorities have also taken action: in 2024, the Shanghai Regulatory Bureau of the China Financial Supervision and Administration fined Jinfeng Insurance Brokerage 300k yuan for “misleading sales.”

However, for a company earning billions in premiums annually, a 300k yuan fine is a drop in the bucket. Its violations have not abated—instead, they have intensified, with cooperation expanding to dozens of platforms covering most internet lending sectors.

Notably, Taikang Online itself has violations: in 2025, it was fined 8.23 million yuan for failing to strictly implement fee rate terms and for unauthorized sales of life insurance products. Yet, its illegal insurance sales in loan scenarios persist, still leveraging Jinfeng Insurance Brokerage to enforce bundling.