Banks look to boost mortgage loans
(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2006-07-03 13:48 CCB, the country's third-largest lender, raised US$9.2 billion in an October
initial public offering in Hong Kong. The bank's profits dropped 3.9 percent to
47.1 billion yuan (US$5.9 billion) in 2005 on higher tax and provisions for bad
loans.
CCB's Shenzhen branch last summer became the first mainland bank outlet to
both pay a deposit rate lower than the benchmark and charge a management fee on
personal savings accounts.
Bank of China, the nation's second-biggest bank, began charging 3 yuan per
quarter on March 20, for all accounts with less than 500 yuan in Beijing and
also for Shanghai accounts with less than 300 yuan.
The Beijing-based lender raised US$11.2 billion in May from its IPO in Hong
Kong and another 20 billion yuan this month by selling shares in Shanghai.
China Merchants Bank plans a US$2 billion stock sale in Hong Kong this year
and has started to charge a monthly fee of 1 yuan on all accounts with balances
of less than 10,000 yuan.
"Cutting the deposit rates together with charging management fees can help
reduce the number of idle accounts and help banks allocate resources better,"
said Li Zhi, a Hualin Securities Co analyst. "Lenders are expected to do more
synergies."
To further cover operational costs, China's biggest state-owned and
joint-stock banks started on June 1 to charge a new service fee for debit
cardholders who use another bank's automatic teller machines.
The banks charged 0.3 yuan each time individuals check account balances on a
rival's ATM. Previously a fee of 2 yuan was charged on cross-bank money
withdrawals through ATMs.
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