A consumption model of "enjoy first, pay later" has quietly emerged in the prepaid industry, but the "Financial Survey" column has recently received continuous feedback from consumers that the "enjoy first, pay later" they are experiencing is not as perfect as advertised by businesses. The routine of "enjoy first, pay later" is reproduced, and the staff "confused" the reporter. Inducing the signing of "enjoy first, pay later" is to let consumers enjoy first, and then pay later. Through a paper agreement, it is agreed that consumers will continue to consume at the merchant like "applying for a card", but the cost of "applying for a card" is not settled in one lump sum, but in subsequent installments. For consumers, the biggest advantage of "enjoy first, pay later" is that they can enjoy discounts on "card issuance" without worrying about merchants losing money. However, some consumers roast on the Internet that this "enjoy first and pay later" sounds good, but actually it is full of routines. Many of these complaints occur in acne treatment stores, especially a brand called "Leiten Professional Acne Treatment International Chain". Based on the complaint clues provided by consumers, the reporter immediately went to acne removal stores in Nanjing, Jiangsu, Tianjin, and Hangzhou, Zhejiang for investigation. In the investigations conducted in the three regions, the process for reporters entering the store is almost identical, including facial examination, analysis of skin problems, formulation of plans, and then recommending the "enjoy first, pay later" payment model for installment payments. When the reporter expressed concerns about the pressure of subsequent repayment, the store manager advised the reporter to handle installment services with longer periods, reduce the repayment amount for each period, and emphasized that this service has no interest. At the Longhu Jinsha Tianjie Outdoor Pedestrian Street in Qiantang District, Hangzhou, there are multiple acne removal stores of different brands within a hundred meters of the street. The reporter randomly walked into a beauty store called "Acne Academician Professional Acne Removal and Skin Management". When entering the store as a consumer to experience it, he originally discussed with the store manager to spend 2980 yuan through "enjoy first, pay later", for a total of 10 times. After the reporter experienced their first facial makeup, the manager of this store actually started persuading the reporter to apply for a 5980 yuan package, with no limit on the number of times within six months. The manager told the reporter that if the price is over 5000 yuan, it can be divided into 9 installments, and only 664 yuan needs to be paid each month. And the previously mentioned 2980 yuan can only be divided into three installments, with 993 yuan per month. Compared to others, the 5980 yuan package is even more affordable. After repeated efforts from the reporter, the store processed a "enjoy first, pay later" plan for the reporter, which costs 2980 yuan and is divided into 6 phases. But during the operation, the manager kept trying to take away the journalist's phone for operation. Seeing that the reporter refused to let go, the manager simply stood up and directly operated for the reporter on their phone. Many pages flashed by, and the reporter completed the signing process in a confused manner. After the operation on the mobile phone was completed, the reporter was also signed a "Service Confirmation Letter" on behalf of him, which clearly stated that he had performed the operation himself, and the staff did not use the mobile phone for the operation. This process is not only recorded, but also requires fingerprinting. A few days later, the reporter requested to terminate the contract on the grounds of not living in Hangzhou, but the store refused the reporter's request on the grounds that they had to come to the store to sign. The reporter also received the message of deduction on the the fourth day of signing the contract. The first deduction will be made on December 12, which is the same as the amount in the Service Confirmation, 496.7 yuan. The chaos of "enjoy first, pay later" is rampant, and operating companies are "cutting corners" to exploit customers. Journalists searched for relevant information on the internet and found that many companies are providing "enjoy first, pay later" access services for merchants. A company that includes the phrase 'legitimate name' in its company profile and names it 'enjoy first, pay later' has caught the attention of journalists. The company is located in the Alibaba Center in Binjiang District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. The product manager, Mr. Yang, received the reporter, who is the passionate speaker promoting the "enjoy first, pay later" product in the short video. In Mr. Yang's introduction, his company's "enjoy first, pay later" business is simply a treasure for merchants to attract customers. Whoever uses "enjoy first, pay later" can lock in more customers and sign more orders. Especially the mandatory deduction function in "enjoy first, pay later" directly guarantees that merchants can receive the final payment. The staff of this "enjoy first, pay later" company emphasized to reporters that when a consumer dispute occurs, if the consumer wants to terminate the contract, they not only have to pay a penalty, but also have to seek help from the merchant to terminate the contract through the backend. If the merchant does not want to terminate the contract, the money will be deducted continuously. This staff member also introduced to the reporter a "trick" for operating without losing money, which is to try to recover all costs when consumers pay the down payment, in order to ensure that no matter what happens later, they will not lose a penny. The company's way of avoiding legal risks is to label the authorized payment platform credit system and mandatory deduction agreement in inconspicuous small font at the bottom of the page. Consumers are difficult to detect first, and secondly, they do not have the professional ability to view contracts. Once they sign a contract in a confused manner, the "enjoy first, pay later" company avoids legal risks, but consumers find it difficult to protect their rights. This company also introduced to reporters that they can force consumers to bind their credit cards on some payment platforms to repay the "enjoy first, pay later" monthly payment. Because as long as the credit card is not fully overdrawn, money can be withdrawn, and if consumers do not repay the credit card, it will affect their credit rating. The office address of this company was selected in the Ali Center in Binjiang District, and the propaganda page also wrote "Justification". Reporters and other merchants who came to the consultation thought that they were Alipay's certification service providers, but they just took this opportunity to "shine", not Alipay's certification service providers at all. But Mr. Yang said that it doesn't matter whether you are a service provider or not to do the "enjoy first, pay later" business. As long as you get the "enjoy first, pay later" service interface of the payment platform, you can do it. 'Enjoy first, pay later': Interface becomes a 'hidden channel' for benefits, bypassing regulatory red lines and arbitrarily disrupting the market! The reporter also visited Hangzhou Microdisk Information Technology Co., Ltd., which is a platform certification service provider of Alipay and is engaged in the access business of "enjoy first and pay later". The staff of this company introduced to reporters that not only beauty stores, but also fitness, education and training, and pet care are all mainly promoted in the "enjoy first, pay later" usage scenarios. The staff member also bluntly told the reporter that this "enjoy first, pay later" consumer finance model in the market can evade national regulation of the prepaid industry. The reporter mentioned to this company that the previously claimed "legitimate" "enjoy before pay" company was not a payment platform agent but could do the platform's "enjoy before pay" business. The staff member told reporters that those companies are just subordinate agents of source companies like them. It can be clearly understood from the statement of this staff member from Hangzhou Weipan that many companies in the current market that carry out "enjoy first, pay later" business actually belong to OEM operation. The number of source companies like them that can directly obtain interfaces from payment platforms is extremely rare nationwide. The profit model of these source companies in the "enjoy first, pay later" field is not limited to ordinary business operations, but focuses more on developing subordinate agents, expanding the agent network to expand market share and obtain profits, or providing licensing services for other companies, using their resource advantages and platform certification qualifications to earn corresponding service fees. The staff introduced to the reporter that agents can set a handling fee for merchants who access the "enjoy first, pay later" service from their own location, usually between 3% and 6%. The consumer scanned the store's "enjoy first, pay later" QR code for installment deduction, and the amount flowed out of the consumer's account. The payment platform deducted the handling fee agreed upon between the agent and the merchant, and then deducted 0.38% from the handling fee as the platform's settlement fee before transferring it to the agent. The agent then earned a profit from the transaction, and the remaining amount was transferred to the merchant. With such a split payment model, a large number of agents need to develop as many merchants as possible to access the "enjoy before pay" payment system in order to make more money. In order to gain the favor of physical store merchants, these "enjoy before pay" promoters will, like the "Hangzhou enjoy before pay" company, painstakingly package this payment model as a marketing tool that benefits merchants. The chaos of "enjoy first, pay later" and "three non conformities" is rampant, and regulation urgently needs to show its sword! After visiting physical stores in various places, it was found that the phenomenon of using "enjoy first, pay later" to induce young consumer groups to consume excessively and ahead of schedule is not uncommon, which goes against the original intention of the "enjoy first, pay later" payment model. Financial experts summarize the characteristics of "enjoy first, pay later", which are similar to prepaid consumption, credit card installment payments, and credit loans, but their nature is not completely the same, so it is impossible to define the essence. This makes "enjoy first, pay later" lack regulation, and even avoid corresponding regulation. This is also an important reason why these e-commerce platforms and payment institutions are vigorously promoting "enjoy first, pay later". Legal experts also remind payment platforms to actively assume regulatory and supervisory responsibilities, and financial regulatory authorities should clarify the behavioral norms of "enjoy first, pay later". Consumers should also act within their means when making purchases. (New Society)