(Yicai) July 1 -- Various app stores have been investigating loan apps after China strengthened the supervision of such sites, especially their illegal traffic diversion, according to insiders.

Operating loan apps have been receiving notices from some app stores to check their qualifications since June 28, financial industry insiders told Yicai.

The app stores’ investigations will benefit more compliant licensed institutions while affecting smaller apps that illegally redirect users to other websites, the insiders noted, adding that the degree of impact will depend on the specific regulatory requirements and the interpretation and implementation of app stores.

Loan apps are subject to six new regulatory requirements, including stopping providing diversion services to other loan apps and specifying the interest rates of their products, according to an email received by a financial technology app from an app store, citing the new regulations. Moreover, all loan product information should be accessible before asking users to log in or perform real-name authentication.

Different loan apps have various degrees of transparency and different loan product information displayed before account login and real-name authentication, Yicai learned by checking some loan apps.

Editor: Futura Costaglione