OREANDA-NEWS. November 15, 2011. Earlier, Mr. Zhang from Beijing was busy in managing the arrangement for sending his daughter to study in Hong Kong. One thing that kept Mr. Zhang worry was the safety of his daughter when she has to carry large amount of cash that he has prepared for her living expense during her study. So Mr. Zhang went to ICBC to look for further information. The customer manager then told Mr. Zhang that a new ICBC service is now available for opening overseas account at domestic branches. His daughter can open an account in ICBC Asia in advance in Beijing and remit the money to this account. In this case, there is no need to bring large amount of cash to Hong Kong to open the account, reported the press-centre of ICBC.  

In recent years, there has been fast growth in China on the demand of cross-border financial services from the personal customers. More and more customers, like Mr. Zhang, who wish to open bank account outside China. Therefore, ICBC branches, in China and overseas, join force to provide a service where ICBC branches in China can open overseas account for customers, leveraging the global service network and cross-border financial services of ICBC. Through the service, customers can open overseas ICBC bank account in advance at the specified outlet of ICBC branch in China so that money can be remitted and used overseas. So far, there are more than 1,200 ICBC outlets under 26 branches in China that can provide the service to personal customers for the opening of accounts in ICBC Asia, ICBC Macau, ICBC London and Singapore Branch.

Opening an overseas account in advance for customers on behalf of overseas branches is very practical and convenient to business travelers, Chinese students studying overseas and travel enthusiasts who leave/return China frequently, said an executive with ICBC. An example is the service for opening an ICBC Asia account. All applications forms are in simplified Chinese for customers in mainland China to apply. It saves time to open an overseas account in advance before going abroad. Besides, during account opening, the customer can know the ICBC Asia A/C No. and get the password envelope for Internet Banking. The new bank card is available to use once sent by ICBC Asia later.

As related by the ICBC executive, the next move of ICBC is to strengthen the domestic and overseas services on the back of its integrated IT system in China and overseas and global service network. More overseas branches will be added to the list for customers to open account according to the actual conditions of the branches in China and overseas. The ultimate aim is to better meet the demands of cross-border financial services from the customers.