Banks under fire over services
Source: Xinhua |
March 17, 2012, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
STOLEN bank accounts and unwanted marketing calls were the focus of a China Central Television program broadcast to mark Consumer Rights Day on Thursday.
The program found staff with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Merchants Bank sold depositors' private information, making their online accounts vulnerable to attack.
The country's banks have long been criticized for making fat profits while treating their customers with a lack of respect.
In the most recent dispute, there was anger over remarks by Hong Qi, president of China Minsheng Bank, who said he was sometimes "embarrassed" to release profit figures which were too good.
China's commercial banks saw net profits up by 36.34 percent year on year to 1.04 trillion yuan (US$164.56 billion) in 2011 - the equivalent of 2.85 billion yuan a day over the past year.
Shenzhen Development Bank disclosed in its annual report that it paid 278,000 yuan a year on average to each of its employees in 2011, 6.5 times more than the per capita disposable income for residents in the southern city.
Services, however, failed to match the high incomes.
A woman surnamed Dong in the eastern city of Hangzhou was said to have forgotten to pay back 191.11 yuan she overdrew five years ago. The bank called her recently, asking her for 10,854.43 yuan. "That's why lenders can make so handsome profits," read one online comment. "The woman should be punished for failing to repay money on time, but I wonder why the bank didn't notify her earlier?"
The China Banking Association said it received 290 complaints last year, most aimed at poor customer services, charging practices and credit card and lending services.
The association said such practices "have seriously damaged the banking sector's reputation."
However, Li Ruogu, president of the Export-Import Bank of China, said: "Large parts of net profits are taken away by the government."
And Yang Kaisheng, president of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, said the country's interest rate margin remains below the global average.
Analysts say much more effort will be required for banks to reestablish credibility after recent disputes tarnished their images.
Guo Tianyong, director of the Banking Research Center at Beijing's Central University of Finance and Economics, suggested lowering the entry threshold for financial institutions and encouraging social financing to break the monopoly of the big banks. "On the other hand, the government should push interest rate reforms to narrow net interest margin, such as unilaterally raising deposit rates or cutting loan rates," Guo said.
The program found staff with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Merchants Bank sold depositors' private information, making their online accounts vulnerable to attack.
The country's banks have long been criticized for making fat profits while treating their customers with a lack of respect.
In the most recent dispute, there was anger over remarks by Hong Qi, president of China Minsheng Bank, who said he was sometimes "embarrassed" to release profit figures which were too good.
China's commercial banks saw net profits up by 36.34 percent year on year to 1.04 trillion yuan (US$164.56 billion) in 2011 - the equivalent of 2.85 billion yuan a day over the past year.
Shenzhen Development Bank disclosed in its annual report that it paid 278,000 yuan a year on average to each of its employees in 2011, 6.5 times more than the per capita disposable income for residents in the southern city.
Services, however, failed to match the high incomes.
A woman surnamed Dong in the eastern city of Hangzhou was said to have forgotten to pay back 191.11 yuan she overdrew five years ago. The bank called her recently, asking her for 10,854.43 yuan. "That's why lenders can make so handsome profits," read one online comment. "The woman should be punished for failing to repay money on time, but I wonder why the bank didn't notify her earlier?"
The China Banking Association said it received 290 complaints last year, most aimed at poor customer services, charging practices and credit card and lending services.
The association said such practices "have seriously damaged the banking sector's reputation."
However, Li Ruogu, president of the Export-Import Bank of China, said: "Large parts of net profits are taken away by the government."
And Yang Kaisheng, president of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, said the country's interest rate margin remains below the global average.
Analysts say much more effort will be required for banks to reestablish credibility after recent disputes tarnished their images.
Guo Tianyong, director of the Banking Research Center at Beijing's Central University of Finance and Economics, suggested lowering the entry threshold for financial institutions and encouraging social financing to break the monopoly of the big banks. "On the other hand, the government should push interest rate reforms to narrow net interest margin, such as unilaterally raising deposit rates or cutting loan rates," Guo said.
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