Ant Group announced that it will shutdown its Xianghubao crowdfunding online medical aid service on January 28, a decision that comes at a time of tightening of fintech regulations in China.
Ant, the fintech subsidiary of retail giant Alibaba, said it made the decision because “the mutual aid industry has undergone significant changes”In the last year, and that the measure aims to protect the interests of users.
Xianghubao offers users a basic health plan that covers various types of critical illness. Registration is free, but all members share the medical expenses in case of falling ill.
Nicknamed as “mutual help”The sector has come under regulatory scrutiny since last year, at a time when regulators are tightening the financial business of online platforms.
The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) has said since last year that all online financial activities must be supervised and authorized by regulators. Mutual aid platforms are not authorized by the CBIRC.
Another prominent player in the mutual aid sector, Waterdrop Inc, supported by Tencent, closed its service in March, while the food delivery giant Meituan closed its service in January.
Ant It said Xianghubao had served more than 100 million members, and that 179,127 users who fell ill had received help from the platform since the service launched in 2018.
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