Analysis of Development Prospects and Risks of Kuaishou's Financial Business

Based on the latest data and market research, I will analyze the development prospects and risk points of Kuaishou’s financial business in detail for you.

As a leading short video platform in China, Kuaishou has actively expanded into the fintech sector in recent years, building a relatively complete financial business ecosystem. Based on the information available so far, Kuaishou’s financial business mainly covers the following major segments [0]:

Kuaishou has obtained relevant qualifications for payment services, and provides payment and settlement services for in-platform transactions through “Kuaishou Pay”. Payment services are the core infrastructure of Kuaishou’s financial ecosystem, supporting capital flow in core scenarios such as e-commerce transactions and live streaming rewards.

Kuaishou has launched consumer credit products such as “Fangxin Loan” to provide small credit services to users. These products are mainly targeted at in-platform users, with credit assessment and risk control based on user data.

Kuaishou platform provides sales and service对接 of various insurance products, including health insurance and accident insurance.

Kuaishou provides agency sales services for products such as funds and bank wealth management to help users achieve asset appreciation.

Focusing on the e-commerce business scenario, it provides B-end financial services such as supply chain finance and merchant loans.

Kuaishou has a large user group, with an average of 411 million DAU and 719 million MAU in the first three quarters of 2025 [1]. The massive user base provides a solid traffic foundation and customer acquisition advantage for financial business.

Diversified scenarios such as short videos, live streaming, and e-commerce provide rich entry points for financial services, enabling seamless embedding of scenario-based financial services and improving user conversion rates and activity.

Kuaishou continues to advance its AI strategy, applying AI technology to various links of financial business, including intelligent risk control, precision marketing, and intelligent customer service, to improve the efficiency and experience of financial services [1].

Kuaishou’s e-commerce business has grown rapidly, with a gross merchandise volume (GMV) of RMB 1.08 trillion in the first three quarters of 2025, a year-on-year increase of 16% [1]. The prosperity of the e-commerce ecosystem provides strong support for the development of payment, supply chain finance, and other businesses.

Kuaishou has a strong user base and brand awareness in the sinking market. These user groups have strong demand for inclusive financial services, providing a broad market space for consumer finance and other businesses.

China’s internet finance regulatory environment is becoming increasingly strict, with increasing regulatory requirements on consumer credit, data security, user privacy, etc., which may restrict the expansion of Kuaishou’s financial business.

In the internet finance field, leading enterprises such as Ant Group and Tencent Finance have established relatively mature financial ecosystems, and Kuaishou faces fierce market competition.

From Kuaishou’s first three quarters of 2025 financial report, online marketing services, live streaming, and other services (including e-commerce) are the main revenue sources, and financial business is not the core revenue source [1], so business independence needs to be strengthened.

Internet finance business requires licensed operation. Kuaishou needs to ensure that all financial businesses comply with regulatory requirements and obtain necessary business qualifications. Changes in regulatory policies may affect business operations.

Consumer credit business faces relatively strict regulation, including compliance requirements on interest rate caps, collection norms, consumer rights protection, etc. It is necessary to continuously pay attention to policy changes and adjust business models.

Financial business involves a large amount of user sensitive information, and data security and privacy protection are key regulatory areas. It is necessary to establish a sound data security management system to ensure user information security.

Consumer credit business faces user default risk, especially against the backdrop of greater economic downward pressure, credit risk may rise. It is necessary to establish a sound risk control system to control the non-performing loan ratio.

Financial business has high requirements for system stability and security. Technical failures or security vulnerabilities may affect business operations and user experience.

Factors such as macroeconomic fluctuations and intensified industry competition may affect the revenue of financial business.

Financial business involves the vital interests of consumers. Improper handling may lead to consumer complaints and public opinion risks, affecting the company’s reputation.

Some internet finance platforms have had problems such as false propaganda and excessive lending. Kuaishou needs to ensure the standardization of business promotion and user services to avoid similar problems.

It is recommended that Kuaishou’s financial business focus on serving users and merchants within its own ecosystem, avoid direct competition with leading internet finance enterprises, and take a differentiated development path.

Give full play to the platform’s scenario advantages, deepen the scenario-based finance model, and embed financial services into users’ daily consumption, entertainment, creation, and other scenarios.

Continue to increase investment in fintech, and use AI, big data, and other technologies to improve risk control capabilities, service efficiency, and user experience.

Establish a sound compliance management system for financial business to ensure that all businesses comply with regulatory requirements.

According to business development needs, apply for or acquire relevant financial licenses in a timely manner to provide compliance guarantee for business development.

Strengthen financial consumer protection, improve the complaint handling mechanism, and standardize business promotion and service behaviors.

Kuaishou’s financial business has great development potential. Leveraging its large user base and rich application scenarios, it is expected to achieve differentiated development in inclusive finance, scenario-based finance, and other fields. However, against the backdrop of increasingly strict regulatory environment and fierce market competition, Kuaishou needs to attach great importance to compliance risks, credit risks, and reputation risks, adhere to the principles of compliant operation and controllable risks in business development, and take a fintech development path suitable for its own characteristics.

[0] Analysis of Kuaishou’s Financial Business Layout - Compiled based on public information
[1] Kuaishou’s First Three Quarters 2025 Financial Report - Yahoo Finance (https://hk.finance.yahoo.com/news/智識選股-強化ai增動能-快手趁低收集-175500678.html)