Fines are not a turning point; online business bank demonstrates operational resilience amid compliance rectification.

Produced by | China-Visit Network

Reviewed by | Li Xiaoyan

On March 20, the Zhejiang Regulatory Bureau of the National Financial Regulatory Administration issued a fine of 1.3 million yuan to MYbank, directly pointing to unlawful and non-compliant conduct such as “rebate-attracting deposits,” and relevant responsible persons were also given warnings. As a benchmark for private banks and internet banks, while this round of penalties has drawn market attention, it is also important to see that the fine is both a correction of past issues and a new starting point for the bank’s push toward high-quality development. Under multiple dimensions—including compliance rectification, business resilience, and its inclusive finance mission—MYbank is demonstrating a positive and improving development trend.

The “rebate-attracting deposits” violation, at its core, is an industry-wide problem in deposit-gathering competition among banks in the context of interest-rate marketization. In an environment where deposit interest rates continue to decline, some institutions have tried to indirectly increase depositors’ returns through cashback, gifts, and other means in order to compete for funding sources. Such conduct crosses the regulatory red line and disrupts market order. MYbank’s involvement in this case is not an isolated incident. Since 2025, more than ten banks have been penalized for similar issues, reflecting common compliance challenges across the industry. What is worth affirming is that MYbank promptly and sincerely accepted the penalty, and, under the guidance of regulators, completed comprehensive rectification. It proactively optimized the deposit-attraction business process, established a long-term compliance mechanism, and demonstrated a responsible attitude of facing the problem directly and making changes upon recognizing mistakes.

From a historical perspective, MYbank’s compliance journey is a microcosm of how private banks grow while exploring. Since it began operations in 2015, starting from an initial registered capital of 4 billion yuan, the bank has developed to its current scale of 6.57B yuan, becoming an industry vanguard serving tens of millions of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. Along the way, compliance pains are inevitable. Two major rounds of large penalties in 2022 and 2024 helped it improve its internal control system. This latest fine further tightens responsibility, embedding compliance awareness deeply into the entire business workflow. Regulators’ “dual-penalty system,” which penalizes both institutions and responsible individuals, also prompts MYbank to strengthen the management’s duty-fulfillment responsibilities—turning compliance operations from institutional requirements into a voluntary commitment across all employees.

On the business front, MYbank has demonstrated strong earnings resilience and scale strength. In the first three quarters of 2025, the bank’s asset size surpassed 520 billion yuan, up more than 10% from the beginning of the year, showing a steady expansion momentum. Although revenue year over year declined slightly by 1.05%, net profit reached 2.94B yuan, up 30.22% year over year. This “increased profits without increased revenue” performance is mainly driven by improved risk control capabilities. Credit impairment losses decreased from 7.73B yuan in the same period last year to 7.734 billion yuan, a reduction of more than 1 billion yuan. This not only reflects the effectiveness of asset quality improvement, but also demonstrates cost optimization enabled by more refined risk control. At the same time, the foundation of its core business remains solid. “MYbank Business Loan” continues to focus deeply on the micro and small enterprise market. Its wealth management business has cumulatively created more than 10 billion yuan in returns for users, becoming an important platform for fund management among micro and small groups.

In terms of asset quality, although the non-performing loan ratio has risen to 2.30%, higher than the industry average, it needs to be viewed objectively in light of the characteristics of its customer base. MYbank has 70% of customers who are credit files with no blemishes, and over 60% are individual industrial and commercial households. It focuses more on county-level areas and segments related to agriculture. These entities generally have weaker risk resistance, so their non-performing ratio is naturally higher than that of traditional banks’ customer groups. Moreover, it adopts a stricter 30-day delinquency definition. If measured using the industry-standard 60-day definition, the non-performing loan ratio would fall to 2.00%. More importantly, the bank’s provision coverage ratio has remained at above 200%, its capital adequacy ratio is steady, and it has sufficient ability to withstand risks. Combined with continued increases in AI-driven risk control technology investment, it is gradually building a more precise risk identification system.

As a private bank initiated by Ant Group, MYbank has carried an inclusive finance mission since its inception. It has cumulatively served over 68 million micro, small, and rural customers, covering half of the agricultural-related counties nationwide, injecting a steady flow of financial capital into the real economy. This round of penalties is a compliance calibration, not a turning point for development. Instead, it is pushing the bank to find a better balance between innovation and compliance. Looking ahead, as rectification measures are implemented, risk control is upgraded, and digital capabilities are continuously strengthened, MYbank is expected to continue leveraging the advantages of an internet bank while staying firmly within the compliance bottom line—serving micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in a more steady manner and supporting the real economy—progressing steadily and long-term on the path of high-quality development for private banks.