OREANDA-NEWS. December 07, 2012. In the rapidly developing internet environment, online banking is integral to internet economic development and e-commerce advancement. Since the 1990s, China’s information technology and e-commerce have kept apace with online banking advances, reported the press-centre of ABC.

Accordingly, Agricultural Bank of China Limited (ABC) officially launched its online banking as early 2002, a decade ago.

As one of the four biggest state-owned banks in China, the world-renowned ABC always takes the lead in financial innovation and services. Adhering to the customer-centric and innovation-driven principle, ABC is committed to building a sound channel system, a powerful product line, and an extensive brand system, and in the process, has ushered in a new information age.
It is widely recognized that ABC’s transfer and settlement business via personal online banking has captured the largest market share for many years now.

ABC launched a number of new services and products this year, such as self-service registration, automatic wealth management, West Union Money Transfer, cross-border T/T, agency services for gold exchange, paper precious metals, online sign-up for third-party depository services and reservation for bank-securities transfer. Meanwhile, ABC is highly recognized for its continuous efforts in offering diversified options for corporate online banking customers. For example, ABC has taken the lead in launching four versions of corporate online banking, namely, Zhi Xin Version, Zhi Rui Version, Zhi Bo Version and Zhi Yi Version, providing differentiated services for micro, small to medium, large and group enterprises respectively.

The rapid development of ABC online banking is attributable to its active dedication to innovation. On April 8, 2002, ABC launched online Banking Version 1.1 on a trial basis in Jiangsu, Shandong, Guangdong, Chongqing and Beijing Branches, marking the start of its online banking development. During the past decade, ABC has been upholding the customer-centric philosophy and making new breakthroughs one after another. In 2007, it initiated the new-generation online banking project. In 2010, the new-generation online banking was put into operation, including new-generation personal online banking, new-generation corporate online banking and new-generation e-commerce. “Golden Online”, the new e-banking series brand, made its debut; and “Trendy e-Path” and “Wealth e-Access” have become sub-brands for personal and corporate online banking respectively.

In response to the rapid development of e-commerce and increasing demands for online payment, ABC took the lead in launching a multi-channel, cross-bank B2C payment platform. This platform provides a variety of payment channels, such as online banking, mobile banking, telephone, cable TV and self-service terminal. The platform provides online collection, payment and other value-added services for over 5,000 corporate customers. As of the end of June 2012, the number of merchant customers reached 5,011, and total volume of e-commerce transactions reached 296,262 RMB million during the first half of 2012.