OREANDA-NEWS. July 12, 2011. As the first bank in China to launch the online banking service in 1999, Bank of China has, based on the philosophy of "serving customers as the core of the business", put tremendous emphasis on the development of e-banking. In recent years, closely following the trend in internet economy, it has made great progress in e-banking by constantly developing and innovating the e-banking products and continuously improving the e-banking service systems, reported the press-centre of Bank of China.

As of the end of the first quarter in 2011, the total number of Bank of China e-banking customers reached 84.25 million, an increase by 34% year-on-year, among which, the online banking customers contributed to the fastest growth at a steady rate of over 100% year-on-year, keeping the bank on the leading position among its main counterparts in terms of the customer growth rate. Meanwhile, e-banking replaced the over-the-counter transactions to become the major channel of transactions for the customers of Bank of China in 2010. By the end of the first quarter of 2011, the number of e-banking transactions accounts for 61.95% of total transactions, increasing by 8% from the end of 2010.

Build a Complete E-banking Service System
After continuous efforts in recent years, Bank of China has gradually completed the construction of e-banking channel system including online, phone, mobile, home and self-service banking that supplements the physical channels of network, wealth management center and private banks, to build up a comprehensive and vertical service channel system, providing convenient and efficient banking services for all customers anywhere anytime.

As one of the earliest commercial banks that introduced phone banking and self-service banking equipment, Bank of China has built its channels with the focus on effectively satisfying the customers' need. It has steadily pushed forward the phone banking system construction by adding more services from time to time and offering 7X24 hour customer service in multiple languages. Meanwhile, it has made continuous investment on the self-service equipment to optimize the self-service functions, and has extended the scope of services beyond the over-the-counter service by actively promoting Bank of China's self-service and other multi-functional service terminals in addition to the constantly enhanced services provided by ATMs.

In terms of online banking, Bank of China launched the brand-new BOCNET online banking service on the integrated domestic and overseas online banking service platform in 2008, and has been upgrading it at the speed of more than two versions per year to enhance the service functions. At present, Bank of China's personal online banking service has basically covered all individual financial products except for cash deposit and withdraw. The enterprise online banking provides services through the internet browser or connection through a phone line, supporting all the enterprise customers from SMEs to group customers and multinational enterprises by offering a comprehensive and high-quality service solution.

Bank of China has seized the opportunity of a booming internet economy and launched its brand new mobile phone banking service in WAP version and the client end in 2010, establishing a leading position in the market through five times of version upgrades within one year.

In addition, Bank of China has responded positively to the policy call of "integrating the three nets" by the country and launched its home banking service in 2010, symbolizing the full coverage of its e-banking over internet, mobile internet and satellite TV network, effectively meeting the demand from household customers of enjoying convenient and reliable banking service without having to step outside.

Provide Global E-banking Services
By leveraging its traditional business advantages in proving services in foreign currency and foreign trade, Bank of China has, focusing on the business demand from the "go global" and "investors in China" customers, made constant improvement to overseas e-banking service functions and extended the service coverage area, keeping its features to provide services worldwide in the e-banking sector.

In addition to the Chinese-English bilingual online banking service accommodated to the overseas customers, Bank of China has taken full advantage in its established overseas network to successfully broaden its service scope and product functions within a short period of time. As of the end of 2010, Bank of China has localized its overseas online banking service in 20 countries and has made its cross-border corporate online banking service available in 27 countries and territories outside China. Its ability to support a global fund allocation and cash management for its customers has made Bank of China the commercial bank with the largest service coverage and the most product functions in China. Meanwhile, Bank of China has made constant business innovations in line with the changes in state financial policies. It has launched the first pilot overseas Renminbi online banking service by its overseas branches. In addition, it will continue to focus on the global service integration strategy to develop the global wealth management service, overseas mobile banking, direct online deposit and other brand-new online financial services for overseas individual customers, leading the international business development.

Explore Personalized Electronic Financial Services
Bank of China has always viewed electronic banking as a key area in business innovation and transformation throughout the bank, and has never stopped searching for innovative developments in this area.

In terms of internet innovation, Bank of China has been focusing on WEB2.0 and other internet technology developments. By making the e-banking system to be more user friendly, it has built an interactive online community between the bank and its customers, bringing a new online experience to its customers.

Bank of China has embedded mobile internet innovative technology into its value-added mobile banking client version and introduced an application that supports more than 90 brokerages' mobile online stock trading, being the first commercial bank domestically to provide embedded stock trading software in its client-end mobile banking version, making it possible for the customers to switch easily and interact between the banking service and other financial demands. Meanwhile, Bank of China has followed closely the trend in 3G applications. The launch of the "flip" version of mobile banking and electronic map positioning service has greatly enhanced the display of the mobile banking and the experience of the customers, who are able to enjoy the new service via mobile internet anywhere anytime.

With regard to the electronic payment that has undergone tremendous innovations, Bank of China has seized the opportunity in the fast development of e-commerce and launched the electronic payment products in B2C, C2C, B2B and B2G. By continuously innovating its online payment operations, it has enabled the online activation as well as a safe and easy payment flow, satisfying the personalized requirements on the security and speed of data transfer by different merchants and customers.

The fast and healthy growth in Bank of China's e-banking business has also won the recognition from both customers and media. It received a total of 18 awards for its e-banking services from many domestic media and institutions, including the Best E-Banking Award, the Best Online Banking Award, the Best Global Service, the Best Online Product Security, the Best Customer Experience and the Best Mobile Banking Brand.

In 2011, Bank of China will make a breakthrough on the internet innovation and seize the market development opportunities. It will realize a fast and healthy growth in its e-banking business by adding more functions, improving customer services and optimizing customers' experience.