China Postal Savings Bank (CPSB) opened a provincial-level
branch in eastern Zhejiang province on Wednesday, bringing the
number of provinces in which it can conduct a full range of
financial services to 20.
With 1,500 post office outlets already established in Zhejiang,
CPSB, now China's fifth largest commercial bank in terms of
deposits following its inauguration nine months ago, will be able
to provide credit card business, loans and financial management
services in both urban and rural areas, according to a branch
spokesman.
Post offices in China began to offer postal savings services in
1986 but until now were not authorized to provide lending or credit
card services.
There are 36,000 post office outlets nationwide, almost 60
percent of them in rural areas, and 270 million account
holders.
CPSB has been officially approved to establish branches at all
levels around the country, including 34 provincial-level branches
and over 20,000 sub-branches, the China Banking Regulatory
Commission said.
The bank's governor Tao Liming previously said it aimed to open
all its provincial-level branches by the end of this month.
By the end of October, CPSB had registered 1.7 trillion yuan
(about 233 billion U.S. dollars) in deposits.
CPSB was inaugurated last March representing a substantial step
forward in China's financial reform and is expected to improve
financial services in the country's rural areas.
(Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2008)
