As the lunar New Year ushers in the year of the rabbit, ICBC prepares special services in line with the requirements of all customers. Various measures will be taken to improve service quality in an effort to provide convenient, fast, rich and varied financial service during the Spring Festival.
First, ICBC will arrange the business hours of their outlets during the Spring Festival to ensure enough number of outlets are open to serve the customers within the radius covered. Outlets in the main shopping areas and residential zones will be given the priority, which will be open to public during the Holiday for the customers to come to ICBC for banking services. At least 30% outlets under ICBC Beijing Branch will be opened from Feb 2nd to 4th (Spring Festival's Eve until the second day of the lunar New Year), 70% outlets open from Feb 5th to 6th (the third and the fourth day of the lunar New Year) and all outlets open to business during normal hours from Feb 7th to 8th (the fifth and the sixth day of the New Year). Under the arrangement of ICBC Shanghai, all outlets under the Branch will be opened during normal hours on Feb 2nd (Spring Festival Eve), 50% outlets open on Feb 3rd to 4th (the first and the second day of the lunar New Year), over 75% outlets open from Feb 5th to 8th (from the third day till the sixth day of the lunar New Year). In Guangzhou, at least 50% outlets under ICBC Guangzhou Branch will be opened from Feb 2nd to 5th (from Spring Festival Eve till the third day of the lunar New Year), while most of the outlets will be opened from Feb 6th to 8th (from the fourth day till the sixth day of the lunar New Year) during the hours as in Saturdays and Sundays. ICBC outlets not opening to business during the Holiday will make the announcement in advance with details about the opening outlets nearby including location map, service hours and types of services available.
The Spring Festival is a peak period for everybody to spend and travel, also the busiest period for Electronic Banking. During the Spring Festival of this year, financial services are available 24 hours non-stop via ICBC's e-banking channels (self-service devices, Telephone Banking, Internet Banking, Mobile Banking) for all customers to deposit/draw cash, transfer money, send remittance, buy electricity, top-up mobile phone, or pay utility bills. Before the long Holiday, ICBC carried out full checking and maintenance work on all the self-service devices. During the Holiday, all self-service devices (including ATMs) will be monitored anytime with cash supplemented as needed. ICBC assigned plenty of call desks to ensure the smooth running of the Telephone Banking services during the Holiday.
The rich and varied wealth management products are another financial feast for the customers during the Holiday. Customers can "activate" the idle money while all the markets are closed during the Spring Festival. Besides 7-day call deposit or Express Link, ICBC also launched an array of wealth management products before the Holiday for the customers to use the idle money to buy investment products and accumulate wealth while enjoying the Holiday.
Moreover, ICBC services for personal customers to trade FX or gold (through accounts) are available as usual during the long holiday period. Customers who wish to buy/sell FX and gold are welcomed during the Holiday.
Apart from all these, ICBC is going to launch a range of promotion activities during the Spring Festival Holiday for those, being customers of ICBC, to enjoy all the special offers while traveling or shopping. An example: double discount on the banking charges when sending remittance via ICBC Mobile Banking (WAP) to accounts in other city or of other banks.
Those with accounts opened in ICBC for trading precious metal, trading precious metal (in USD account) for the first time or buying/selling precious metal before have the opportunity to enter lucky draw of the month (account opening month or transaction month). When using ICBC credit cards to pay for POS spending, all holders are entitled to continue enjoying the discount offered by the candidate merchants under "Asian Games Gold Class Merchants Program" while exclusive discount are also offered to holders of ICBC Asian Games Credit Cards.
Fabulous promotions are also organized by ICBC branches in all places. An example is the promotion on "Installment payment by ICBC credit card, Many Discounts for Traveling to Australia" launched in Beijing area. During the promotion period, holders of ICBC credit cards issued by Beijing Branch making installment payment for Australia tour organized by Beijing CAISSA International Travel Service Co., Ltd. are immediately entitled to an offer of less RMB 2000/person and 40% discount on the installment charges.
Another example is the "Remittance Discount for Overseas Travel" launched by ICBC Shanghai. The promotion is targeted at ICBC customers traveling overseas. During the promotion period, customers who exchange money at ICBC counter can enjoy a discount up to 30% on the pips spread. Those who send FX remittance or buy traveler cheques up to specified amount are also entitled to 30% discount on the banking charges.
