The rewards of having a high score include easier access to loans from Ant Financial and having a more trustworthy profile on e-commerce sites within the Alibaba Group.

[5] It was developed when the People's Bank of China lifted the restrictions and let non-bank institutes conduct personal credit information operations.

[4]: 68  It can also have some benefits outside of Alibaba platforms, like potentially waiving deposits for hotel bookings or bicycle rentals from businesses that partner with Alipay.

[8][5] The corporate network of Zhima Credit, led by the Alibaba Group, spans over insurance, loan, historical payment, dating, shopping and mobility data.

[9] It collects data from all sources by utilizing the regulatory freedom it built from objects and social networks, public and private institutions and offline and online.

Due to Zhima Credit's close collaboration with the government, it also has access to all public documents, such as official identity and financial records.

Data fragments are classified into five categories:[5][9] The specifications of the algorithm that determine the classification, as well as the analytical parameters and indicators remain confidential.

[11]: 161  Various news outlets around the world incorrectly suggested that people could lose social credit for playing too many video games.

[11]: 161 Ultimately Zhima Credit became a loyalty program that rewarded users for using Alibaba services and shopping platforms.