Bank idea of hubby 'allowance' causes stir
Source: Xinhua |
January 12, 2013, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Men and women are not seeing eye to eye on a new banking service that can parcel out an allowance for a husband from his monthly salary and deposit the remaining funds into his wife's account.
To advertise its "capital accumulation" service, China Merchants Bank used the example of a fictional couple trying to save money to buy a house.
The bank, not the wife, will check the husband's account periodically and automatically transfer any funds exceeding a previously designated amount into the account of the wife.
An Internet user posted a photo of the advertisement on Weibo on Tuesday. So far, it has attracted over 160,000 comments.
Many female Weibo users are on board.
"CMB knows what a girl wants," one female user wrote regarding the bank.
However, men have been generally less enthusiastic.
"Newly married men must hate this bank for coming up with the idea!" wrote celebrity microblog user Kai-fu Lee, who is CEO of Innovation Works.
"I am thinking of canceling all my CMB accounts," wrote one male Weibo user.
Some men have expressed concerns about how the service could affect domestic bliss.
Xia Tong, a 29-year-old man who got married two years ago in south China's Guangdong Province, said he would have no privacy with his salary and it would "inevitably lead to quarrels."
Ye Dandan, a client manager at a CMB branch in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, said the service is intended to make it easier for couples to pay bills.
"The advertisement was just using an example to tell clients how they could use the service, which does not only provide an opportunity for wives to spy on their husbands' salary," Ye explained.
Ye said the service could also allow a husband to transfer money from his wife's account into his account.
Meanwhile, the service is not only available to couples. Any individual with multiple accounts could also enroll in the service and designate how much money would go into each account every month.
The debate about the service reflects the insecurities of Chinese couples, said Zhou Xiaopeng, a marriage and relationship expert at Baihe.com, a match-making website.
"Men want to remain free after marriage by controlling their own money, while women want to feel secure by taking charge of family finances, which is why the advertisement has caused so much debate," Zhou said.
To advertise its "capital accumulation" service, China Merchants Bank used the example of a fictional couple trying to save money to buy a house.
The bank, not the wife, will check the husband's account periodically and automatically transfer any funds exceeding a previously designated amount into the account of the wife.
An Internet user posted a photo of the advertisement on Weibo on Tuesday. So far, it has attracted over 160,000 comments.
Many female Weibo users are on board.
"CMB knows what a girl wants," one female user wrote regarding the bank.
However, men have been generally less enthusiastic.
"Newly married men must hate this bank for coming up with the idea!" wrote celebrity microblog user Kai-fu Lee, who is CEO of Innovation Works.
"I am thinking of canceling all my CMB accounts," wrote one male Weibo user.
Some men have expressed concerns about how the service could affect domestic bliss.
Xia Tong, a 29-year-old man who got married two years ago in south China's Guangdong Province, said he would have no privacy with his salary and it would "inevitably lead to quarrels."
Ye Dandan, a client manager at a CMB branch in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, said the service is intended to make it easier for couples to pay bills.
"The advertisement was just using an example to tell clients how they could use the service, which does not only provide an opportunity for wives to spy on their husbands' salary," Ye explained.
Ye said the service could also allow a husband to transfer money from his wife's account into his account.
Meanwhile, the service is not only available to couples. Any individual with multiple accounts could also enroll in the service and designate how much money would go into each account every month.
The debate about the service reflects the insecurities of Chinese couples, said Zhou Xiaopeng, a marriage and relationship expert at Baihe.com, a match-making website.
"Men want to remain free after marriage by controlling their own money, while women want to feel secure by taking charge of family finances, which is why the advertisement has caused so much debate," Zhou said.
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