In recent years, the Chinese economy has been on a downward trend, and the banking industry is facing a crisis due to the impact of the real estate sector. Recently, several Chinese banks have encountered difficulties with cash withdrawals at their branches, leading to dissatisfaction among depositors. Many users believe that the reduction in bank card transfer limits is a deliberate attempt by the banks to make it difficult and prevent capital outflow by setting limits.
According to a recent report by the “Beijing News” Shell Finance, many bank card users have reported that their bank cards have had their limits reduced without their knowledge. Some users have had to go to bank branches to raise the limit on their cards in order to use them normally, while others have given up on using their cards altogether.
Since the second half of this year, several banks have announced adjustments to the non-counter transaction limits of personal bank settlement accounts. These financial institutions mentioned by bank card users include Bank of China, Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank, and Jiangxi Bank.
Despite bank officials explaining that the reduction in bank card transfer limits is primarily to “prevent telecommunications fraud,” many users believe that this is a deliberate move by the banks to prevent capital outflow by setting limits.
However, all bank card users have expressed that they were not informed of the reduction in non-counter transfer limits unknowingly, and the lack of SMS notifications from banks has been criticized.
One bank card user, Ms. Li (pseudonym), revealed that she was surprised to find her salary card suddenly limited. In July of this year, she planned to withdraw a reimbursement payment from Bank of China (amounting to tens of thousands of yuan), but she was unable to do so either through transfer or ATM withdrawal as it exceeded the daily transfer limit.
To her further surprise, another primary Jiangxi Bank I-class bank card she holds for mortgage payments was also limited in July and August. Li has been using these two bank cards for many years for small purchases, and the cards had never been subject to ATM cash withdrawal or transfer limits. Both banks adjusted her mobile transfer limit to a daily limit of 2000 yuan without notifying her.
Li said, “Bank of China staff initially told me to go to the branch with my ID to process the increase, but when I arrived at the nearby branch, I was told to go to the account-opening branch.” She said that she could not process the increase that day as the account-opening branch was closed, and it took her a month before the limit was successfully raised.
According to a report by Shanghai TV news on the 14th, some bank card users have recently reported that their personal bank card transfer limits were reduced without their knowledge. Some users even mentioned that they could not transfer amounts as low as 1000 yuan. These customers believe that the restrictions on non-counter transactions are due to the bank’s desire to prevent capital outflow.
In a report by Jiupai News in January of thisyear, a woman in Pingdingshan City, Henan Province, complained that she faced difficulties when withdrawing 5000 yuan for Chinese New Year red envelopes at a Zhongyuan Bank branch.
The woman, Ms. Wang, said that initially, the staff asked her to download an anti-fraud app, which she found reasonable, but later it became excessive. They asked where her sister worked, where she previously worked, and even required proof that her sister was related to her. Later, they demanded to speak directly with her sister, review their chat records, and still did not allow the withdrawal. It took nearly 2 hours, including reporting to the police, before she finally withdrew the money.
Similarly, according to a report by Haibao News, a woman in Jiangxi posted on a social media platform that when she brought 100,000 yuan in cash to the bank to deposit as a fixed deposit, bank staff asked her where the money came from.
The woman thought to herself at that time, “Why do you care where my money comes from? Just process it as I ask, isn’t that enough?” She asked the staff why they needed this information, as she had not been questioned when depositing cash previously. The staff’s response was that it was a bank rule.
In response to these incidents, some netizens commented, “The banking system really needs to be reformed, the service attitude varies greatly – you are treated like a king when depositing money, but like a beggar when withdrawing money. The leakage of personal information cannot be denied, as the information stored in banks is relatively accurate, and the moral quality of employees really needs to be assessed carefully.”