Still locked down? Banks have new services for you
Banking at your fingertips
Open an account, transfer money, borrow money, and pay bills: you can do almost all your banking online and with your mobile device when it suits you, even if you are locked down.
Shanghai banks have been continually enriching their online business channels to make services more accessible to their customers amid pandemic controls.
Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank said over 2,100 clients have applied for loans via its online QR code scanning service, which was rolled out to help small and medium-sized enterprises navigate the pandemic.
Services such as electronic letters of guarantee, letters of credit and bailout loans can be dealt with around the clock.
So far, the intended credit has hit nearly 9 billion yuan (US$1.32 billion), according to the local lender.
Small businesses can initiate online applications for loans with a quota of up to 10 million yuan on the app of the China Merchants Bank and clients can get pre-approval results within minutes.
The bank also offers personalized loan schemes with preferential interest rates - and all of this will be done remotely.
Since March, nearly 1,500 customers have been provided with this pre-approval loan service, which has helped bring more firms back to business.
Shanghai Bank launched a cloud-based outlet service, providing convenient "non-contact" financial services to customers through remote video, which helps solve the problem of customer identification under the self-service mode.
The daily average number of customers served has been more than twice that of the pre-pandemic level, the bank said.
OCBC Wing Hang Bank (China) uses remote video signing and other technical means to help customers complete the business of repaying the loan without repayment of the principal when the loan expires.
The move has helped ensure the normal operation and turnover of enterprises under the pandemic situation, according to the foreign-funded bank.
