During the Chinese lunar New Year period, children receive lucky money from their elders, which is a traditional custom in China. In addition to this tradition, many banks in China have introduced deposit plans to attract children’s lucky money during the Chinese New Year period.
According to Chinese customs during the New Year period, children and young people who are not yet working can receive lucky money from their elders, especially children. Therefore, during the New Year period, every child has a significant amount of lucky money in their pockets. Following traditional Chinese customs, the period from the first day to the fifteenth day of the lunar year marks the celebration of the New Year. Even before the New Year is over, many banks have already set their sights on the lucky money in the hands of children.
According to a report by The Paper on February 21st, Chinese commercial banks have recently been launching financial products and services such as “lucky money,” “children’s accounts,” and “growth treasury” to help transform children’s lucky money into long-term customer assets through dedicated savings accounts, fixed deposits, and automatic wealth management allocation strategies.
Zhejiang Jiaxing Pinghu Rural Commercial Bank has introduced a children’s savings passbook to prevent the lucky money from just sleeping in red envelopes. Their slogan “not just saving wealth, but also storing exclusive memories of growth” attracts children to deposit money. Guangfa Bank has introduced the “Freedom Card” in their “parent-child finance” service, offering customizable card designs and the ability to open independent accounts for children to manage their lucky money.
Furthermore, banks such as China Merchants Bank, Beijing Rural Commercial Bank, Henan Rural Commercial Bank Taiqian Branch, and Shanxi Lan County Rural Commercial Bank have all launched deposit services specifically for children. These deposit projects generally offer higher returns compared to similar bank products. Some banks even provide deposit lottery draws as well as surprise boxes, keychains, toys, and building blocks as gifts.
The report notes that although the amount of lucky money given is often not high, it has characteristics such as concentrated inflow, long retention periods, and strong family decision-making stickiness. For banks, lucky money represents not only a low-cost source of liabilities but also an important entry point to acquire young family customers. The lucky money given at the New Year becomes a crucial time window for concentrated marketing of related services. Overall, banks targeting lucky money reflect a trend in the industry shifting from “capturing deposits” to “building relationships” and “acquiring long-term customers.”