OREANDA-NEWS. December 26, 2011. ICBC becomes the first commercial bank in China to roll out integrated bill management service by a recent launch of bill pool service nationwide specially for corporate clients who demand for cash management service. At the heart of the new offering is bill custody, bill pledge and other functions. Corporate customers of ICBC welcome the new bill pool service which helps them free up their bill assets. More than a hundred companies use ICBC bill pool service as of today.

In China, companies are taking steps to improve their treasury management. Many of them are not satisfied with management on monetary assets only. Instead they are asking for more services to manage liquid assets other than monetary assets. ICBC's new bill pool system is designed in accordance with the customer requirements. The new system incorporates the bill assets of customers into cash management service and enables companies to manage company funds and bills together, freeing up their liquid assets to improve asset operation.

Commercial banks leverage its strong system network and extensive outlet network to deliver bill pool service to corporate customers. Bill pool service is a collection of services related to commercial bills covering management, custody, pledge and finance. It is a high-end solution for corporate group customers to manage and use bills efficiently. The bill pool service of ICBC enables corporate group customers to free up bill assets, increase bill income and reduce bill risk backed by the systematic management on the liquidity. To corporate customers, by signing up ICBC's bill pool service, they can manage bills from one location online and get a clear picture on all bill assets in the corporate group. Since bill limit within the corporate group can be shared, corporate customers can also use bill pool service to sign up many off-balance sheet services offered by commercial banks to get credit facility flexibly. Moreover, bill pool service is easy to use. Companies use the service to manage paper bills and electronic bills together through ICBC Internet Banking and Bank-Enterprise Link. Other functions include enquiry on the bills in the bill pool through company's management software, send instructions to adjust limit, collect bill, pledge bill or submit transaction request. Through the bill pool service, corporate groups can manage their bills and free up all bill assets in the group.

ICBC, being the earliest commercial bank in China to launch cash management services for corporate customers, has established a cash management service scheme targeted at the management on monetary assets of the customers, said an executive with ICBC. This has been a result of years of effort. The foreign currency assets of customers are also included in cash management system to realize systematic management of customers' treasury. ICBC retains its top position in the domestic ranking by securing over 620,000 cash management customers at the end of the third quarter of 2011.