Core Insights - The consumer finance industry is experiencing significant growth, with asset scale and loan balance projected to reach 1.38 trillion yuan and 1.35 trillion yuan respectively by the end of 2024, reflecting year-on-year increases of 14.58% and 16.66% [1][2] - However, there is a stark disparity among consumer finance companies, with some achieving substantial growth while others struggle due to high customer acquisition costs and reliance on external traffic [2][4] Group 1: Industry Overview - As of 2024, Ant Group's consumer finance assets reached 313.75 billion yuan, while the smallest players, such as Jiexin and Jinmeixin, had assets of only 4.842 billion and 6.313 billion yuan respectively [2] - Many consumer finance companies primarily act as fund providers, relying on internet platforms and loan assistance platforms for customer acquisition, which leads to a degradation of their own risk control capabilities [3][4] - A report from the China Banking Association indicates that in 2023, only 27 out of 31 consumer finance companies engaged in online self-marketing, with only three companies exceeding a 50% self-marketing ratio [5][6] Group 2: Business Models and Strategies - The reliance on third-party platforms for customer acquisition has resulted in a lack of customer data retention within the companies' own applications, leading to a transactional relationship rather than a sustainable business model [4][8] - Some companies are beginning to shift towards self-operated models, utilizing media advertising and various internet platforms to acquire customers and retain data within their own applications [4][8] - Companies like Mashang Consumer Finance have achieved a self-operated customer acquisition rate of 75%-80%, contrasting with the industry average of over 50% reliance on third-party APIs [10] Group 3: Customer Acquisition Costs - The cost of customer acquisition has been rising, with the average cost per customer through short video platforms increasing from 1,300 yuan in 2020 to approximately 2,100 yuan by mid-2024 [19] - Some loan assistance platforms have reported customer acquisition costs nearing 3,000 yuan per person, highlighting the increasing expense of obtaining new customers [19] Group 4: Future Directions - Consumer finance companies face a critical decision point: whether to continue relying on external platforms or invest in self-operated strategies to enhance their customer acquisition capabilities [21] - The shift towards self-operation is seen as a long-term strategy, requiring significant investment and time to develop, contrasting with the more immediate gains from reliance on loan assistance platforms [20]