CITIC Industrial Bank Offers Online Banking ServiceThe CITIC Industrial Bank, one of China's rising commercial banks, announced day the debut of its on-line banking service and credit card, which marks an upgrade of its traditional businesses.Although a new commercial bank which operates according to international standards and does not have the burden of large amounts of non-performing assets as the major State-owned commercial banks, CITIC said it was old in terms of financial products. "All CITIC bank's products were traditional, which could not meet the demand of the rapidly developing new economy," said Wang Jun, CITIC Group board director in an earlier conference. Realizing the impetus brought by the Internet on traditional banking services, CITIC is actively upgrading its products, said Dou Jianzhong, president of the bank. The bank is the first to adopt the certificates of the newly founded China Financial Certificate Authorization Centre (CFCA) to guarantee the safety of on-line banking, said CFCA General Manager Liu Dalong. The CFCA was founded by the central bank and 12 major commercial banks at the end of last month, which grants CA certificates to e-commerce users on the basis of careful credit record inspection. As the wave of e-commerce washes over Chinese society, the on-line banking businesses of Chinese banks also stepped into the actual operation stage, said Chen Jing, director of the central bank's payment technology department at a press conference yesterday. "Chinese and foreign banks are on the same level in the development of on-line banking," said Chen. The newly issued CITIC credit card is one of the first real credit cards in China that fit in with international practice. Holders of the cards can spend before they deposit the money into their account. They are allowed to overdraw as much as 50,000 yuan (US$6,025) and repay the money in 45 days without paying interest. So far, only the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the Guangdong Development Bank have launched such credit card. All other bank cards require users to deposit money before they spend. The bank is also the first bank in China to construct a credit rating and management system which evaluates card users, said Yao Dingyi, vice-president of the bank. |
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