E-Banking Widens ICBC's Business ScopeTelephone banking, on-line banking and other electronic banking service have become new sources of growth for Chinese banks, with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the country's largest commercial bank, recording accelerated growth in this sector over the past few months.Statistics released Friday by the ICBC show that from July to October, the bank's telephone banking business received up to eight million calls, with a total trading volume of 20 billion yuan (about US$2.6 billion). By the end of November, 28 of the ICBC's branches had opened telephone banking centers to provide convenient services for clients, and by the end of October, 33 branches had opened corporate-oriented on-line banking business. The bank's mobile phone banking business first opened in 12 pilot cities in May and will soon be extended to other provincial capital cities, an ICBC spokesman said. He said that the bank will continue to reinforce e-banking business and make more efforts in market promotion, in an effort to establish a standardized e-banking service system in three to five years. |
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