China's New Personal Loan Cost Disclosure Rule Takes Effect Aug 1

From August 1, China’s Financial Supervision Administration and the People’s Bank of China will enforce the “Personal Loan Business Disclosure of Comprehensive Financing Cost” regulation. The rule requires all personal‑loan providers—including commercial banks, consumer‑finance firms, auto‑finance companies, trust firms and micro‑loan companies—to present borrowers with a standardized “comprehensive financing cost” statement that details all fees, interest rates and potential penalty costs, expressed as an annualised rate.

Banks such as Xiamen Bank, Jilin Bank, and Hengfeng Bank have announced that new loans issued after the deadline will include the required disclosure form, while firms like Zhongyou Consumer Finance have already published their own cost tables. Industry players are accelerating system upgrades, contract revisions and digital display adjustments to comply. Some loan‑facilitating intermediaries have described the pre‑implementation period as a “window” to market aggressively, but regulators stress that any fees not listed on the disclosed table are prohibited and can be rejected by consumers.

The regulation aims to end opaque fee practices that have long inflated borrowing costs and to foster a more transparent, competitive lending market in China.