JD Finance removes second P2P lending feature from its app

JD Finance has removed its second peer-to-peer (P2P) lending feature from its app after it had been online for less than 10 days, highlighting difficulties in China’s P2P loans sector.

Despite initial reports of the feature’s disappearance, Hefeng Online Lending was still available until 4 p.m. on Wednesday. Previously, all products were labeled as being “sold out” after it was removed from the app’s main page. It has subsequently been completely removed.

This year has been one of crisis for China’s P2P lending market as the central government cracks down on small and medium-sized P2P lending platforms amid increasing default rates. According to US-listed financial company Rong 360’s research institute, users from a total of 841 Chinese P2P loan platforms had trouble withdrawing their money between February and November.

A spokesperson from JD Finance confirmed to TechNode on Monday that Hefeng Online Lending had been put online. It also vowed to abide by the relevant national laws and regulations. However, the company was not immediately available for comment concerning the removal of the feature.

In total, the feature offered four short-term loan products. Investors were allowed to provide loans for periods of one month, three months, six months, or one year.

Hefeng Online Lending was JD Finance’s second P2P lending platform that disappeared in a matter of days. The Chinese e-commerce giant launched its first P2P service Xuhang Online Lending on Dec 14. It was pulled from the company’s financial service app several days later. According to a report by 36Kr, a company employee disclosed that the service was still “partially open to some users,” though no reasons for the limited access were provided.