China’s economy continues to decline, with real estate companies collapsing one after another, causing disruptions in the banking industry. In recent times, many banks in China have been facing difficulties with withdrawals at their branches. In Jilin Province, one bank required customers to obtain approval from the local police station for withdrawals exceeding 20,000 yuan, citing the prevention of telecom fraud, which led to dissatisfaction among depositors.
According to reports by Jimo News, on June 11th, a netizen posted a video showing their mother attempting to withdraw money from Jilin Bank in Changchun City with a total amount of less than 100,000 yuan. The bank informed them that they needed approval from the police station before the transaction could be processed. Only after the police station’s verification did the transfer go through successfully at the bank counter.
On the 12th, branch staff of the bank confirmed that, based on the request from the local police station, withdrawals exceeding 20,000 yuan required the branch staff to report to the police station, who would then verify the customer’s account before releasing the funds. They claimed that this measure was primarily to prevent telecom fraud.
The incident, as shown on the remittance voucher, occurred at Jilin Bank’s Zunyi Road branch in Changchun City, Jilin Province.
On the afternoon of June 12th, Red Star Capital called the bank to verify the situation, but the bank staff immediately hung up after understanding the inquiry. However, the local police station, Jin’an Police Station, denied having such a regulation. Nevertheless, the police station staff mentioned that if there were significant withdrawal requests, customers should inform the bank in advance, and the police station would only verify funds of unknown origin.
YU Quan, a partner at Ju Ren De Law Firm in Sichuan, stated that the freedom to withdraw money is a basic right of depositors, and neither banks, police stations, nor other institutions have the authority to impose additional legal procedures as obstacles.
In recent times, many bank branches in China have faced difficulties with withdrawals, sparking discontent among depositors, and even leading to incidents of vandalism in banking premises.
In January of this year, a woman in Pingdingshan City, Henan Province, complained that while trying to withdraw 5,000 yuan for Lunar New Year gifts transferred by her sister at Zhongyuan Bank, she faced obstacles. This incident quickly gained traction on Weibo’s hot search.
According to Jiu Pai News, the person involved, Ms. Wang, stated that initially, the staff asked her to download an anti-fraud app, which seemed responsible at first, answering questions accordingly. However, it later became excessive when they inquired about her sister’s workplace history and demanded evidence of their relationship. Eventually, they even required a direct phone call with her sister and examined their chat history before allowing the withdrawal.
After involving the police, it took nearly two hours to finally withdraw the money.
Similarly, the trending topic “Woman asked about the source of 100,000 cash deposit at the bank” surged to the top on January 8th.
As per Hainan News, a woman from Jiangxi posted on a social platform that when she tried to deposit 100,000 yuan in cash to her bank account for a fixed deposit, the bank staff questioned the source of the money.
The woman expressed her frustration, thinking, “Why do you care where my money comes from? Just do as I said directly, right?” She found the interrogation unnecessary, as she was never questioned before when depositing cash. The staff justified their actions, stating that it was the bank’s policy.
Moreover, due to the inability of depositors to withdraw money, a rural branch of the Bijie Rural Consumer Cooperative in Guizhou Province was vandalized earlier this year, sparking public concern. An anonymous depositor told Yangguang Net that with the current situation, everyone is worried about their deposits becoming worthless. Hence, there are frequent clashes as depositors demand to withdraw their savings but are unsuccessful, including conflicts with service department staff.
A shop owner near the cooperative’s service branch, Qing Shuipu, shared with Da Wan News that he had money deposited there, ranging from a few thousand to tens of thousands of yuan, but had been unable to withdraw it for several months.