Retail banking becomes bigger source of banks' profit in first three quarters

Retail banking has become a sustained major growth area for two Chinese banks during the first three quarters of this year, as the lenders transformed their business structure. 

Shenzhen-headquartered Ping An Bank, a joint stock commercial lender, saw the retail bank sector contributing to 42 percent of its revenue and 65 percent of its net profit during the first nine months.

“The bank has been stepping up its efforts to promote the transformation toward intelligent retail banking. By giving full play to our group’s edge on integrated finance, we aim to provide our clients with a differentiated banking experience while maintaining rapid growth momentum,” the Shenzhen-listed lender said in its latest statement to the exchange.

The bank will transform consumer banking by “leveraging technological innovation to  become a smart bank and the best retail bank in China,” Cai Xinfa, special assistant to the president of Ping An Bank, said.

The bank hopes that transformation of its retail business will help it reach 110 million customers within three to five years.

China Merchants Bank, the country’s sixth largest lender by assets, also posted a slight gain in its assets during January to September, with retail loans accounting for 52.4 percent while total deposits from customers totaled 3.8 trillion yuan, up 4.2 percentage points from the end of the previous year.

By utilizing advanced technologies like face recognition in the daily operations of the bank outlets, CMB has simplified complicated business procedures and reduced its operating costs.