OREANDA-NEWS. August 07, 2014. In view of corporate needs to cut financing costs and enhance financial management efficiency, ICBC has lately launched “ICBC Corporate Cards”, an innovative product, to provide enterprises with integrated financial service solutions covering expenditures, travel expense payment, financial reimbursement and personal consumption.

As statistics show, in half a year since the launch of the product, the number of such cards issued has exceeded 300,000, and the product has been extensively used by state-owned enterprises, small and micro enterprises and the Chinese units of Fortune Global 500 companies, covering sectors of energy, communications, pharmaceuticals, and automobile.

According to an official with ICBC, the needs of domestic enterprises and multinationals for banking services have diversified from traditional services such as deposits, loans and settlement to derivative demands including financial management, capital use and cost control. The Bank has therefore launched “ICBC Corporate Cards” by leveraging its strength in product and technology, to help enterprises escalate financial and capital control and management over expenditures, travel expense payment and financial reimbursement.

In terms of cost reduction, “ICBC Corporate Cards” feature exclusive credit lines without occupying personal funds, nor increasing the costs on enterprises. Employees can utilize the overdraft limit to cover expenditures and business travel consumption, and enjoy a maximum 56-day interest-free repayment period; while enterprises need not make advances or cash prepayments. By skipping the procedure of deposit, withdrawal, management and payment in cash, it has lowered reserves occupation and financial costs and enhanced the capital use efficiency and turnover of enterprises. For example, some large domestic group has opened “ICBC Corporate Cards” for 60,000 of its employees and its annual business travel expenses amount to RMB 3 billion. The cards can help reduce occupied reserves by RMB 400 million and financing costs by RMB 22 million each year.

In terms of financial management, ICBC has specifically established a corporate Internet banking review and reimbursement system as well as a bank-enterprise interconnected corporate reimbursement platform, which enable enterprises to electronize reimbursements and allow their finance departments to keep track of the reimbursement details of employees at the same or subordinate levels through the system data on card application, use and reimbursement. In doing so, the Bank has met the management demand of enterprises by means of big data analysis, and resulted in more refined, scientific and convenient financial management.

Regarding additional rights and interests for employees, “ICBC Corporate Cards” provide a wide variety of deductions, exemptions, and preferential services to cardholders, along with special offers on 10 major industries most closely related to business travels both at home and abroad, including aviation, hotel, shopping, cash refund for famous brands, cash refund for overseas shopping, travel, overseas study, tax refund, car rental, rescue, and airport shuttle service.

Meanwhile, “ICBC Corporate Cards” come in three categories: single-currency, dual-currency, and multiple-currency cards which have 10 foreign currency accounts. Enterprise employees on business trips abroad need not pay foreign currency conversion fees when using the multiple-currency card, which can save around 1.5% of overall expenditures for their companies.