Financial Services Association, September 19 (Reporter Peng Kefeng) The third quarter of 2024 is coming to an end. Who would have thought this year's gold prices could reach new highs? This has also caused some banks to make adjustments to their related operations.

On September 18, the Agricultural Bank published an article on its official website stating that the starting point of purchase of the bank's Deposit Connect 2 will be adjusted to a floating method according to the gold price (refer to the most recent valid quote during the closing period), and the transaction increment unit will remain unchanged at 10 yuan. This is also the first bank during the year to link the starting point of deposit to the gold price.

Today, the reporter noticed that during the year, about 10 large banks announced increases in deposit purchase points, but most of them were concentrated in the first half of the year.

A macro analyst at a brokerage firm that has been following the gold trend for a long time told the Finance Association reporter that the Agricultural Bank's practice of adjusting the initial purchase point twice is clearly related to the fact that gold prices have repeatedly reached record highs since the second half of the year, and the practice of linking gold prices is clearly more flexible than the practice of some banks raising the starting point amount in the past. He believes that if gold continues to be strong, it is not ruled out that in the near future, more banks will follow the practices of the Agricultural Bank and continue to adjust deposit purchase points.

One step in place, the Agricultural Bank announced that the starting point of Deposit Connect No. 2 will fluctuate with the price of gold

Yesterday, the Agricultural Bank published on its official website the “Notice on Adjusting the Starting Point of Purchase of Jintong No. 2 to a method that fluctuates with the price of gold” on its official website.

In the announcement, the Agricultural Bank stated that in order to implement regulatory requirements and facilitate customers, the purchase starting point for investing in Bank Deposit Connect 2 will be adjusted to a floating method according to the amount of money (refer to the most recent valid quote during the closing period), and the incremental transaction unit will remain unchanged at 10 yuan. When a customer applies for a fixed investment, the fixed investment amount is greater than or equal to the real-time deposit account No. 2 purchase price and only meets the incremental unit requirements for fixed investment transactions (a whole multiple of 10). For example, if the purchase price of Deposit Connect 2 at the time of fixed investment is 565 yuan/gram, and the incremental unit for fixed investment transactions is 10 yuan, the minimum amount you can apply for a fixed investment is 570 yuan.

Judging from the official website of the Agricultural Bank, Deposit Connect 2 is currently a “savings account” commonly implemented by domestic banks. It means that investors open a special account with a commercial bank and purchase gold products according to a fixed weight or fixed amount. After maturity, the savings can be exchanged for physical money or perform operations such as redemption and transfer, and is regarded as an upgraded version of gold fixed investment.

According to relevant information, compared to the previous Deposit Connect 1, Deposit Connect 2 has a lower transaction starting point. The transaction starting point of Deposit Connect 2 was further reduced to 0.1 grams, and the minimum transaction unit was further refined to 0.01 grams. At the same time, Deposit Connect 2 also provides a more flexible investment method. Customers can order fixed investment purchases by weight or amount, and customers can order fixed investment for the first 25 days of each month, which can help customers spread out purchase costs more effectively.

It is worth noting that this is the second time during the year that the Agricultural Bank has adjusted the deposit purchase point. On March 22 of this year, the Agricultural Bank of China announced on its official website that according to the People's Bank of China's “Interim Measures on the Administration of Gold Savings Business” (Bank Office Development [2018] No. 222), which requires a minimum transaction unit of 1 gram, the starting point of purchase of the bank's Deposit Connect 2 amount fixed investment will be adjusted to 550 yuan, and the incremental transaction unit will remain unchanged (10 yuan). The adjustment will take effect after trading closes (15:30) on March 29, 2024. Fixed investment contracts that were in effect before the transaction starting point was adjusted will not be affected.

The boom in gold prices affected banking business, and about ten banks raised deposit purchase points during the year

The reporter noticed that as international gold prices have continued to rise since 2024, and the historical record for spot gold has been set many times in a row, domestic gold prices have also continued to rise. After the opening of the market this morning, the price of gold (Au99.99) on the Shanghai Gold Exchange was about 582 yuan/gram. Compared to the opening price of gold on January 3 (Au99.99), which was about 482 yuan/gram, the increase in the Shanghai Gold Year was also astonishing.

Precisely because of the continued rise in domestic gold prices, since this year, several banks have announced increases in purchasing points for savings accounts. However, judging from the timing, the time for these banks to issue announcements is concentrated in the first half of the year. On March 6, CCB took the lead in issuing an announcement stating that starting at 9:10 on March 7, 2024, CCB's personal gold deposit business regular deposit starting amount (including average daily savings and optional daily savings) will be raised from 500 yuan to 600 yuan. Since then, many banks, such as Bank of Ningbo, Bank of China, Agricultural Bank, Postbank, Industrial and Commercial Bank, China Merchants Bank, and Ping An Bank, have continued to follow suit, increasing the starting points for deposit deposits, and most banks have adopted the same approach as China Construction Bank, keeping the price increase at around 600 yuan.

In response, a macro analyst at a brokerage firm that has been tracking gold trends for a long time told the Finance Association reporter that such “savings accounts” such as Depository Connect 2 are suitable for long-term gold investors who have held and continue to buy, and that customers do not need to immediately withdraw their gold from the bank, which also saves storage costs. Currently, it is more popular among individual investors. The Agricultural Bank's practice of adjusting the starting point twice is obviously related to the fact that gold prices have repeatedly reached record highs since the second half of the year. Adopting the practice of linking gold prices is clearly more flexible than the practice of some banks raising the starting point amount in the past. Even if the gold price fluctuates later, there is no need to make too many adjustments. Furthermore, if gold continues to be strong, it is not ruled out that in the near future, more banks will follow the practices of the Agricultural Bank and continue to adjust deposit purchase points.