① Over the two days of November 22 and 23, stock banks such as Industrial Bank, China CITIC Bank, Everbright Bank, Minsheng Bank, Ping An Bank, etc., and urban agricultural commercial banks such as Bank of Ningbo all issued centralized announcements announcing adjustments to some service prices and improving service quality and efficiency. ② The timing for banks to implement “fee reduction and concessions” in this round varies to a certain extent according to the actual situation of each bank.
Financial News Agency, November 23 (Reporter Peng Kefeng) In response to the “fee reduction and concession” initiative of the China Banking Association, stock banks and local urban commercial banks have set off another small wave in the past two days.
A reporter from the Financial Association News Agency noticed that during the two days of November 22 and 23, stock banks such as Industrial Bank, China CITIC Bank, Everbright Bank, Minsheng Bank, Ping An Bank, etc., and urban agricultural commercial banks such as Bank of Ningbo all issued centralized announcements announcing adjustments to some service prices and improving service quality and efficiency.
A number of stock banks and urban agricultural commercial banks are following up centrally
On October 12, the China Banking Association issued the “Proposal on Adjusting the Prices of Some Bank Services and Improving Service Quality and Efficiency”, which proposed initiatives such as abolishing the cost of commercial drafts, reducing bank acceptance bill processing fees, reducing personal deposit account statement printing fees, implementing cost pricing methods for security certification tools, and comprehensively improving the quality and efficiency of credit card services.
Following the announcement of the initiative, the Bank of China, the Agricultural Bank of China, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and China Postal Savings Bank issued an announcement on October 13 stating that they will respond positively to the initiative of the China Banking Association, further increase preferential service, and improve service quality and efficiency, which once sparked a wave of public opinion.
On November 23, a financial news agency reporter discovered that on the same day, a number of joint stock banks, including Industrial Bank, China CITIC Bank, Everbright Bank, Minsheng Bank, and Ping An Bank, issued announcements on the same day on adjusting prices for some services and improving service quality. The content was basically the same as the actions of the six major banks in the previous round, involving acceptance drafts, Bluetooth network shields, dynamic tokens, and security authentication tools.
Similarly, these stock companies have extended preferential treatment and reduced fees for credit card-related services. For example, China CITIC Bank proposed that in terms of credit card-related services, the bank provides a service for transferring credit card overpayments to domestic bank accounts without handling fees, and provides an annual fee reimbursement mechanism, time-tolerance services, etc. Since December 16, the bank has increased the credit card holder tolerance service to RMB 100 (or HK$100, US$20, EUR 20).
Judging from the content, the actions of many stock banks are also a second round of follow-up to the last round of major state-owned banks taking the lead in responding to the Association's “fee reduction and concession” initiative. China CITIC Bank and other stock banks all clearly stated at the beginning of the announcement that the event was “to implement the China Banking Association's “Proposal on Adjusting Prices for Some Bank Services and Improving Service Quality and Efficiency” (Bank Association Development (2023) No. 64) and to respond positively to the relevant initiatives of the regulatory authorities.
On November 23, the Bank of Ningbo also issued a notice on adjusting the prices of some services to improve service quality and efficiency. The Bank of Ningbo also stated that this adjustment of prices for some services is a concrete measure to respond positively to the China Banking Association's “Proposal on Adjusting Prices for Some Bank Services and Improving Service Quality and Efficiency”.
The Bank of Ningbo said it will adopt eight measures to adjust prices for some services and improve service quality and efficiency, including exempting the cost of bank acceptance drafts and commercial acceptance drafts, raising the credit card repayment tolerance amount to 100 yuan, exempting cardholders from transferring credit card overpayments to their own Bank of Ningbo debit card account fees, etc., and has clarified the specific implementation time, further reducing the operating costs of market players and serving the vast majority of financial consumers.
All banks have the same content but different implementation times
A reporter from the Financial Association News Agency noticed that the timing for banks to implement “fee reduction and concessions” in this round is somewhat different according to the actual situation of each bank.
For example, according to Industrial Bank, starting November 24, bank acceptance bill fees and commercial acceptance bill fees will be abolished. Starting December 27, cardholders will be exempted from processing fees for credit card overpayments from credit card overpayments to their own domestic bank accounts, and will continue to provide credit card regular card and gold card annual fee reimbursement mechanisms and time and tolerance service mechanisms; while Everbright Bank said it will waive bank acceptance bill fees and commercial acceptance bill fees from November 30; from November 24, it will provide repayment tolerance within 100 yuan (or equivalent in foreign currency).
A banking analyst at a brokerage firm told the Financial Services Association reporter that in this round, it is also normal for major state-owned banks, stock banks, and urban commercial banks to respond to the Association's initiatives and introduce specific rules quickly and slowly. Major state-owned banks took the lead in making statements to reflect their political position and play a leading role. Stock banks, urban commercial banks, etc. are smaller than large banks, and internal decision-making may take more time. In fact, in the past two to three years, the banking industry has launched many fee-reduction and concessionary activities, which have played a positive role in reducing the burden on enterprises and supporting the real economy. However, in the long run, if economic recovery is to be accelerated and enterprises can go to battle lightly, the cooperation of more departments may also be needed.