CBRC Urges Better Banking Services

The China Banking Regulatory Commission, the supervision body of Chinese banks, is making a rule to guide banks in solving consumers' complaints and to urge them to improve their service quality to better serve consumers.

According to local media reports, the new rule states banks must accept clients' complaints no matter if the clients have enough evidence or not, and they should make a reply to the clients' complaints within one month. Banks must then provide a final solution for the complaints within two months after the date they receive the initial complaint. The new rule will be the minimum standard for banks to refer to in solving clients' complaints.

Complaints about financial services are on the increase in China. Statistics from the Shanghai Consumers Right Protection Commission show that the department received 346 complaints on financial services last year, which was an increase of 44.2% compared with that of the previous year. Of all the complaints on financial services, complaints about bank cards have become a heated area.

Fortunately, both the banking supervision department and the banks have begun to pay more attention to complaints and are working to improve their services. Many banks have set up a special channel to receive consumers' complaints, through telephone, email or fax.