OREANDA-NEWS. March 04, 2011. Beginning from 2010, ICBC leverages its capabilities and expertise in financial services to establish "ICBC Merchant Friend Club", a new service platform available to personal customers (enterprises in merchandise markets, owners of small-and-medium private businesses and shareholders of private enterprises) with many unique services for payment and settlement, business loans, investment and wealth management and value-added services such as business networking. The goal is to offer comprehensive financial services to small businesses and support their healthy growth, reported the press-centre of ICBC.

The first "ICBC Merchant Friend Club" was established on April 8, 2010 in Zhejiang's Haining. Since then, the Club moves at an impressive pace nationwide with its super valued and convenient services. As of the end of 2010, ICBC has set up 552 "ICBC Merchant Friend Club" in 35 provinces, cities, autonomous regions and over 600,000 members. ICBC has extended over RMB 7 billion in business loans and consumer loans to "ICBC Merchant Friend Club" members, more than 1.6 million remittances have been sent by the members through the "Club", to nearly RMB 180 billion.

Merchants are a customer group quickly evolved since China opening to the world, said an executive with ICBC. Their demand for financial services is vastly different from that of the conventional industry and commercial enterprises or urban residents. The aim of ICBC to establish "ICBC Merchant Friend Club" is to offer financial services (settlement, loan, wealth management) specially for this type of customers through customer segmentation, new customer relation model, targeted innovation on products and services. To ICBC, offering accessibility to customers also helps ICBC re-orient its business.

As related, to join "ICBC Merchant Friend Club", eligible customers only need to fill in member registration form. Members are entitled to a range of heartfelt and economical services designed and customized to the different needs of the merchant group. One service is "Merchant Friend Card". Members can enjoy special services when they use the card for signing up ICBC services. For example, once signing the Club's personal remittance packages, members can enjoy special discount on the remittance at ICBC outlets, electronic banking or transfer/remittance machine, fast, safe and convenient.  Besides, more special products and services for the members will be launched later, special loan will be offered with the following features: flexible guarantee option, used revolvingly after one-time credit granting, loan drawdown via different channels, easy to apply. A convenient and nationwide settlement service platform will be available for the customers. Meanwhile, an array of value-added services is another service spotlight of the Club. Through the Club, members can build business network, meet new friends, share information or look for business opportunities.

Industry insiders commented the rising need of financial services from the merchant group in the face of the fast growth of self-employed private economy. They are asking for services in deposit, loan, settlement, wealth management and intermediary services, accounting for bigger shares of personal financial services. To build a special financial service platform for merchant group not only meets their need and promotes the development of private sector, but also offers vast market potential for the sustainable growth of commercial banks' retail banking business.

The ICBC executive said, ICBC plans to continue acting consistently the philosophy of "Customer Focus". More resources will be allocated to related areas, more innovation efforts on the products and services. Concrete steps will be taken to reinforce and promote this new type of customer relation through membership. ICBC is turning "ICBC Merchant Friend Club" into a platform offering special financial services to more commerce and trade customers with many value-added services such as information sharing and business communication.