SF Express's new Express Card, which claims to "enjoy 4% benefits upon recharging", is becoming a "digital waste" in the hands of many consumers. Recently, many users have reported to China Business News that the "bonus" in their accounts has been idle for a long time and is difficult to consume. After a user recharged 1,000 yuan, he still has a principal of 100 yuan left. However, because the bonus does not comply with SF Express's usage rules, more than 50 yuan is still "stuck" in the account. The reporter's investigation found that layers of restrictions such as hidden rules, the need to use the principal in proportion, and the inability to combine payments when the balance is insufficient are the key to the "easy to get but difficult to use" bonus.
Behind this, the price war in the express delivery industry continues and corporate profits are under pressure. The gross sales profit margin of SF Holding (002352.SZ, 06936.HK) has dropped from 20% in 2017 to 13% in the third quarter of this year. Single ticket revenue in November fell to 13.47 yuan, almost halved compared with the same period in 2017.
The capital market also cast a cautious vote on this. SF Holding's A-share stock price (the same below) has fallen by two-thirds from its 2021 high.
"Bonus Money" Trapped in Account
Recently, many consumers reported to China Business News that when using SF Express's recharge service, although the page advertises "4% recharge benefits", in actual use, these "recharge benefits" are by no means what people generally understand and can be used as principal. On the contrary, the rules for using this type of "bonus" are complicated, similar to "big words are eye-catching, small words are exempt". Before use, you must be careful about which rules it does not conflict with. The numerous rules make it difficult to use the bonus smoothly.
A consumer said that he recharged more than 1,000 yuan into his account. The principal has been used up about 900 yuan, but there is still 50 yuan in bonus, which he has hardly had a chance to use.
Photo provided by interviewee
Why are these bonuses so difficult to spend? According to consumer guidelines, the reporter entered the recharge page of SF Express’s “New Express Card”. The balance of the card includes the principal and bonus. The bonus is the amount of money distributed to the user for free after the user successfully participates in the activity and meets the recharge or other conditions. Based on different recharge levels such as 30 yuan, 100 yuan, 500 yuan, etc., the amount of bonus money ranges from 1.5 yuan to 600 yuan. If the user is a platinum or diamond member, the recharge rebate amount will be even higher.
However, the specific usage rules are not easy to detect. Users need to click "Recharge Instructions" in "Member Rebate" in the upper right corner of the page to view the details.The recharge instructions stipulate that when paying freight, the principal and bonus must be used in a ratio of 9:1; if the principal balance is 0, the bonus must meet specific conditions before it can be paid separately. For example, more than ten situations such as the combined use of freight coupons of more than 5 yuan or less than 10% off or more than 500 points on the waybill, as well as SF air delivery, cold freight lines, student-exclusive products, e-commerce returns, etc., do not currently support payment with gift money.
The reporter consulted SF Express customer service over the phone. Customer service told reporters that in addition to the above rules, there is an unlisted payment rule: when the principal is not 0, if the amount is not enough to pay a single shipping fee, you can also use the bonus to supplement the payment. In this case, the ratio of 9:1 does not need to be followed.
For example, assuming there is a principal of 100 yuan and a bonus of 50 yuan in the user's account, if a normal standard express order of 20 yuan is paid, only 2 yuan of bonus can be used; if the order is an SF Express order, the bonus cannot be used to pay. Assume that there is only 10 yuan principal left in the user's account. Only after paying the above 20 yuan order that meets the conditions for using the bonus, can you choose the form of 10 yuan principal + 10 yuan bonus for consumption.
Image source: SF Holding Mini Program
In other words,If users want to use up the bonus money, they need to go through many levels to use it at a ratio of 9:1 to the principal amount of the bonus money, or they must first consume all the principal according to the rules and then confirm whether subsequent orders meet the conditions for using the bonus money.
Even so, users may still encounter problems when paying. A consumer in Shenzhen reported that the principal balance on his card was 10 yuan, and there were two or three yuan left in the bonus. When paying for an order of 18 yuan, the system prompted that the payment could not be made.
The reporter inquired about the "New Express Service Agreement" and found that Article 15 states that when the balance of the electronic card is less than the amount payable on the order, SF Express does not support simultaneous payment with the electronic card and other payment methods. Users need to recharge the electronic card with sufficient funds before they can use the electronic card balance for payment. In other words, users need to keep recharging to use the remaining money.
Complex consumption rules have even spawned a gray industry chain. On social and second-hand trading platforms, there are “scalpers” who specialize in recycling SF Express’s gift money at 50% to 40% off. According to an intermediary, the current recycling price of a 600 yuan face value gift is generally around 300 yuan. Customers need to first consume the principal balance in the account, and then hand over the account to the intermediary to log in, and use the bonus to pay for SF orders that meet the rules (usually standard express orders). After the consumption is completed, the intermediary logs out of the account. Both parties complete transactions and fund settlement through third-party platforms such as Xianyu and WeChat.
Gross profit margin under pressure
Why does SF Holding set multiple restrictions on the use of prepaid card bonuses? A practitioner in the e-commerce field told China Business News: "The scale of enterprise users can easily reach hundreds of millions. Even if each account has a small balance that cannot be used, it will accumulate to form considerable accumulated funds." He said,This kind of practice can not only reduce the risk of users losing their balance due to exhaustion, but has also become a common phenomenon in the industry. According to its estimates, the accumulated funds in some corporate prepaid cards may even account for 8% to 15% of the total recharge amount.The intention of designing such complex rules like SF Express is even more obvious.
Complaint statistics from the China Consumers Association in 2024 show that the field of prepaid consumption has become a hot spot for consumer rights protection. Problems such as operators absconding with money, making false promises, and setting unfair terms and conditions frequently occur.
SF Holding has a huge user base in the express delivery market. According to SF Holding's 2025 third quarter report, as of the end of the third quarter of this year, SF Holding served more than 2.4 million active monthly customers and more than 780 million individual members.
At the same time, SF Holdings faces continued pressure to make profits.
According to the financial report, in the first three quarters of 2025, SF Holding’s total business volume reached 12.15 billion tickets, a year-on-year increase of 28.3%; operating income was 225.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.9%. However, the dilemma of “increasing income without increasing profits” is highlighted. In the first three quarters, SF Holding's gross profit margin was 13.0%, a year-on-year decrease of 1.0 percentage points; its net profit margin attributable to the parent company was 3.7%, which was flat year-on-year.
Compared with peers, this level of profitability is only slightly better than the industry median, but the lead has narrowed. Choice data shows that in the first three quarters of 2025, the industry median sales gross profit margin of Shenwan's secondary industry transportation-logistics was 8.11%, and the industry median sales net profit margin was 2.24%.
In the long term, SF Holding's gross profit margin will gradually decline from 20.07% in the initial stage of listing in 2017 to 13.93% in 2024, and its net sales profit margin will also drop from 6.68% to 3.59%.
The competitive situation in the industry is not optimistic. A person in charge of a domestic express delivery company told China Business News that since 2019, there has been a fierce price war among major express delivery companies. The integration and clearing out of the industry continues to accelerate. At present, small express delivery companies in the market have basically been cleared out, leaving only a few leading express delivery companies.
The pressure continues. In November this year, SF Holding's single-ticket revenue fell 8.49% year-on-year to 13.47 yuan, a drop of nearly 40% from 22.17 yuan in the same period in 2017.
Image source: SF Holding business briefing
At the end of October, SF Holding stated at a performance briefing that under the strategy of “first-come-first-served, then best-served”, the company has launched an “enhancement plan” to comprehensively sort out customer conditions and optimize the volume structure in each region.
Some media reported that Douyin’s e-commerce return business has been adjusted extensively. The e-commerce return business previously undertaken by SF Express will be taken over by logistics service providers such as JD Logistics, ZTO Express, and YTO Express. According to industry analysts, e-commerce return orders have the characteristics of low unit prices, scattered distribution, and high service requirements. They require enterprises to invest more transportation capacity and human resources, which will significantly increase operating cost pressure. Therefore, this move by SF Express may increase profit margins to a certain extent.
Stock prices continue to fall
From the perspective of capital market performance, although SF Holding's performance is relatively stable, its stock price has fluctuated and declined for a long time.
After reaching a stage high of 115 yuan in February 2021, SF Holding's stock price began to fluctuate downward. Since the "9·24" market last year, the stock price has recovered, but it accelerated its decline again after August this year. As of now, it is trading at 38.49 yuan, which has basically given up the gains since the "9·24" market, and has dropped by 2/3 from the peak.
The stock price is under short-term pressure, partly due to the recently launched employee incentive plan. On the evening of August 28, SF Holding disclosed the "Shared Growth Stock Ownership Plan" with a grant period of 9 years, in which 1.62 billion fictitious shares will be granted to employees within 9 years. According to the announcement, the controlling shareholder Mingde Holdings will donate no more than 200 million A shares free of charge, accounting for approximately 4% of the total share capital; no more than 180 million virtual equity units will be granted each year in the next nine years (a total of no more than 1.62 billion units), and the grant price from 2025 to 2027 is 35 yuan/share; the lock-in period after each vesting is 12 months, and a service period of up to 96 months is set.
A financial source told reporters that "Accounting Standards for Business Enterprises No. 11 - Share-based Payment" clearly states that equity instruments granted to obtain employee services (regardless of whether the shares come from the company or shareholders) should be included in the expenses during the waiting period based on the fair value on the date of grant. In other words, even if the source of the stock is a free gift from shareholders, the listed company will still have to "pay" on the expense side, thus putting pressure on the company's financial statements.
From a mid- to long-term perspective, corporate refinancing behavior also has an impact on stock prices.
SF Holding's multiple private placements after its backdoor listing once drove the stock price downward. In November 2021, SF Holdings issued an additional 350 million shares at a price of 57.18 yuan/share. According to Choice statistics, a total of 22 institutions participated in the placement at that time, and the sales restriction period was 6 months. Among these institutions, there are well-known private equity companies such as Chongyang Investment and Jinglin Asset Management, as well as large public equity fund companies such as Wells Fargo Fund, Cathay Fund, and Bank of Communications Schroeder Fund. But then, SF Holding’s share price turned downward and continued to slump. From 2021 to 2022, SF Holding’s share price fell by 21.7% and 16.03% respectively.
On November 27, 2024, SF Holdings was officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The IPO price in Hong Kong was HK$34.3, and the net amount raised reached HK$5.662 billion.
The industry believes that the company's issuance of new shares (H shares) to new investors means an increase in the company's total share capital. While total net profit remains unchanged, earnings per share (EPS) will be diluted. For A-share investors who focus on fundamentals, this is a negative.
The stock price of SF Holding then entered the adjustment stage, fluctuating downward from around 43 yuan in early November 2024, and once reaching around 37 yuan in January 2025.
However, SF Holding has paid larger dividends in recent years. According to the financial report, the 2024 annual dividend, mid-year dividend, plus a one-time special cash dividend of 4.80 billion yuan distributed to shareholders before the H-share listing, the company's total cash dividend in 2024 will reach approximately 8.9 billion yuan.