Three major commercial banks in China have been fined for charging illegally for the registration of lost passwords, China's National Development and Reform Commission said Thursday.
Citic Bank and the Industrial Bank were fined 2 million yuan each and the Postal Savings Bank of China was fined 1.8 million yuan for charging clients who registered the loss of a bankbook or debit card password until as late as July 13, according to the NDRC.
The service should have been free from July 1, when state authorities required China's commercial banks to abolish 34 service charges, including the one for resetting passwords.
But media reports said that though banks have canceled charges for resetting bankbook and debit card passwords, many still require clients to pay for the registration of a lost password before resetting it.
Customers have to pay 10 yuan (US$1.55) if they lose their bankbook or debit card password and want to record the loss with their bank to ensure account security. Banks have been under fire for charging these customers.
The dissent resulted in China's major commercial banks issuing an emergency notice on July 6, asking branches around the country to stop charging clients for registration of lost passwords.
China's local price authorities require banks to give a full refund to clients who were charged for the service between July 1 and July 5. Banks that continued to charge after July 6 have been fined five times the amount they collected.
