360 DigiTech, Inc. (QFIN): Marketing Mix Analysis [Dec-2025 Updated]

You're digging into 360 DigiTech, Inc.'s strategy right now, and you need to know if their big pivot to a capital-light model is actually translating into market wins as we close out 2025. Honestly, the numbers suggest a serious shift: they are forecasting average revenue around CNY 20.2 billion for 2025, driven by a Product focus on Credit-Tech SaaS and a Price model leaning on technology fees rather than just loan originations. I've broken down the entire marketing mix-Product, Place, Promotion, and Price-to give you a precise, analyst-grade view of how this strategy is being executed across mainland China and what it means for their next leg of growth. Let's look at the details below.

360 DigiTech, Inc. (QFIN) - Marketing Mix: Product

You're looking at the core offerings of 360 DigiTech, Inc. (QFIN) as the company navigates its technology-first evolution. The product isn't a physical good; it's a suite of digital financial services and technology infrastructure.

The primary offering remains Loan Facilitation, connecting underserved Chinese consumers and small business owners with a network of institutional lenders. As of March 31, 2025, Qifu Technology, Inc. partnered with 165 financial institutions. This platform has served 268.2 million consumers, showing an 11.1% year-over-year increase in consumer reach. Back in December 2022, the platform had facilitated an aggregate of RMB1.2 trillion in loans.

The technology underpinning this is the AI-driven credit risk assessment and big data analytics platform. This system is designed to assess the creditworthiness of potential borrowers in real-time, using machine learning models. This platform is central to the company's ability to offer its core services effectively.

For the institutional side, 360 DigiTech, Inc. (QFIN) offers Credit-Tech SaaS modules. These are standardized risk management services provided to financial institutions to enhance their digital finance capabilities. This technology focus supports customer acquisition, risk assessment, and post-lending management for partners.

The specific credit products facilitated through the platform include unsecured consumer loans, installment credit products, and working capital financing tailored for micro and small enterprises. Management has historically focused on optimizing the mix of these products.

The strategic direction involves a clear pivot to a capital-light model, which means emphasizing technology services revenue over taking on credit risk directly. This shift is defintely important for the long-term structure. The proportion of new loans facilitated under this capital-light model reached 58% in the third quarter of 2022. While the latest specific capital-light percentage for 2025 isn't immediately available, the revenue mix reflects this focus. For instance, in 2024, Loan Facilitation Service Fees accounted for approximately 80% of total net revenue, with Post-Facilitation Service Fees making up about 20%.

Here's a quick look at some key operational and financial metrics around the product delivery as of the first quarter of 2025:

The technology component is being reinforced through ongoing investment. The company planned to use net proceeds from its Global Offering for research and development to enhance its technology and credit assessment capabilities, and to develop more diversified technology solutions.

The product ecosystem is characterized by several key technological strengths:

• Leveraging big data and machine learning for credit assessment.
• Providing end-to-end digital lending experience automation.
• Supporting real-time decision making and portfolio monitoring.
• Focusing on meeting compliance requirements for financial institutions.

The company's overall financial health supports these product developments. The debt-to-equity ratio was 0.06, showing conservative leverage. Also, the current ratio stood at 2.5, ensuring ample liquidity for short-term obligations.

360 DigiTech, Inc. (QFIN) - Marketing Mix: Place

The Place strategy for 360 DigiTech, Inc. centers on digital accessibility across its target geography. The primary distribution mechanism is its proprietary, end-to-end digital lending platform, which offers a complete digital lending experience from application to servicing.

Operationally, 360 DigiTech, Inc. focuses its distribution across mainland China. This digital infrastructure is designed to reach consumers and SMEs who are often underserved by traditional banking channels, particularly in lower-tier cities and rural areas, though specific geographic penetration statistics aren't always itemized in public reports.

The channel strategy is heavily dependent on a network of partner financial institutions that provide the actual loan capital. This network structure is key to the company's capital-light transition. As of the second quarter of 2025, the company maintained a network of 165 funding partners, which helps dilute the bargaining power of any single capital provider.

You can see the scale of this distribution and user base in the table below, based on the latest available figures:

The company ensures global capital access, which is a crucial component of its Place strategy for funding loan origination volumes. This is supported by its dual listing status. 360 DigiTech, Inc. is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker QFIN, and it also has a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKG).

Furthermore, the company actively diversifies its funding sources beyond direct bank partnerships. For instance, its ABS (Asset-Backed Securities) issuance increased by 21.6% to RMB 15.2 billion in 2024, attracting subscriptions from multiple international institutional investors, which broadens the capital distribution channels available to the platform.

Key elements of the distribution channel management include:

• Proprietary technology platform for end-to-end service delivery.
• Focus on connecting borrowers in underserved mainland China markets.
• Reliance on a network of 165 financial institutions as of Q2 2025.
• Global capital sourcing via public listings and international ABS issuance.

The market capitalization as of September 30, 2025, stood at $3.97B with 260M shares outstanding, reflecting investor sentiment on the viability of this distribution model.

360 DigiTech, Inc. (QFIN) - Marketing Mix: Promotion

Promotion for 360 DigiTech, Inc. centers on communicating the technological superiority of its platform while carefully managing the public perception of regulatory compliance and risk. The goal is to drive user acquisition and deepen the engagement of existing users with the platform's credit services.

Value proposition centers on superior, proprietary credit assessment technology.

The core message in promotion highlights the advanced technological backbone, which is the primary differentiator against competitors. This technology is what allows 360 DigiTech, Inc. to offer better risk-adjusted returns to its partners and more personalized services to borrowers. The company explicitly states its focus on leveraging artificial intelligence and big data to enhance credit assessment and personalize financial products. This technological focus is a direct counter to past regulatory scrutiny regarding data handling, framing the technology as a tool for compliance and efficiency.

Co-promotion through strategic partnerships with commercial banks and insurers.

Promotion is often executed indirectly through the visibility and trust associated with its institutional partners. The company enables financial institutions to provide better and targeted products. While specific co-promotion campaign spending isn't public, the operational focus is clear: diversifying user acquisition channels and enhancing targeted operations, which implies joint marketing efforts with funding partners.

Here's a look at the scale of the business these promotional efforts support, as of the third quarter of 2025:

Marketing efforts focus on expanding the user base and enhancing service stickiness.

The primary quantitative goal of promotion is user growth, specifically adding new credit line users. The strategy is dynamic, adjusting the pace of acquisition based on market conditions. Enhancing service stickiness is the secondary, but equally important, goal, ensuring that acquired users continue to utilize the platform's services.

• Added 1.95 million new credit line users in Q3 2025.
• Added 1.69 million new credit line users in Q4 2024.
• Focus on improving user engagement and retention.
• Diversifying user acquisition channels continues.

Digital outreach and personalized content, leveraging AI for efficiency.

The efficiency of promotion is measured by the decline in unit costs, suggesting that digital outreach, likely powered by the same AI used for credit assessment, is becoming more effective at targeting the right audience. The company is actively working to optimize these acquisition channels.

The efficiency gains are evident in the sequential cost performance:

• Sales and marketing expenses remained stable Quarter-over-Quarter (QoQ).
• Unit costs for acquisition declined by approximately 8% sequentially in Q3 2025.

Must manage regulatory risk perception following past app removal incidents.

A critical, ongoing promotional challenge is maintaining a positive perception of regulatory compliance, especially given the 2021 app removal incident. This is managed by demonstrating strong asset quality and proactive risk control in public disclosures, which serves as a form of reputation management to reassure partners and users. The delinquency rates are a key metric used to signal this control to the market.

Key risk perception indicators reported for Q3 2025:

• 90-day delinquency rate: 2.09% (up from 1.97% in Q2 2025).
• Day-one delinquency rate: 5.5% (up from 5.1% in Q2 2025).

The company is focused on risk control of its operation for the immediate future.

360 DigiTech, Inc. (QFIN) - Marketing Mix: Price

Price for 360 DigiTech, Inc. centers on the structure of fees charged for facilitating financial services, reflecting a strategic pivot in revenue generation.

The core revenue model has historically been based on fees from successful loan originations, acting as a technology platform connecting borrowers with financial institutions. This means the price realization is directly tied to the volume and success of the facilitated credit flow.

Currently, pricing strategies are actively shifting toward consulting and technology solution fees, marking a move to a capital-light model. This transition lessens direct exposure to interest rate risks and regulatory caps on lending, favoring service-based revenue streams. As of the third quarter of 2022, the proportion of new loans facilitated under this capital-light model had reached 58%.

Key financial metrics underpinning the pricing power and profitability include:

The shift in revenue composition is also evident in funding cost management. For instance, the company noted that its Asset-Backed Securities (ABS) issuance pace picked up, reaching about RMB 14.4 billion in the first half of 2025, an increase of about 45% from the same period last year, leading to a decrease in funding costs.

The pricing strategy's success is reflected in operational efficiency metrics:

• Take rate for Q2 2025 reached 5.4%.
• The take rate in Q2 2025 was up almost 1 percentage point year-over-year.
• Non-GAAP net income in Q2 2025 increased by 30.8% year-over-year.
• Non-GAAP EPADS (Earnings Per ADS) in Q2 2025 rose by 48.8%.

Financing options and credit terms are influenced by liquidity and risk management. For example, in response to market uncertainty, risk standards were slightly tightened in April 2025, and further optimized in June 2025, while maintaining the acceptance rate at a reasonable level. The company also executed a share repurchase plan starting January 1, 2025, purchasing approximately 7.1 million ADSs for a total of about RMB 277 million as of August 14, 2025.