Lucrative business has banks scrambling
Updated: 2008-01-23 13:03
Elegant decor, subdued artworks and huge windows from which to enjoy the cityscape - Chinese banks are learning fast how to treat their most valuable clients.
On Dec 26, China Merchants Bank opened its second private bank in Beijing. The luxury office is located in the city's central business district.
"We want the office to create a sense of dignity and privacy, and the private bank is expected to provide more individualized services to top-tier clients," said Zeng Yuran, general manager of CMB Private Banking (Beijing), at the bank's opening ceremony.
It was the second private bank the lender opened in 2007, after a Shenzhen outlet in August.
Three local banks including Bank of China (BOC), CITIC Bank and CMB have opened private banks in the big cities. More lenders, such as Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Construction Bank, are preparing to launch their own private banking services.
Setting up private banks one after another is the best test of local banks' business innovation and ability to seize the growth potential of China's wealth management market.
It's no wonder local media dubbed 2007 "the era of private banking in China", though the term is still ambiguous for many Chinese.
Private banking has become highly competitive, as growing prosperity makes China an increasingly important market for wealth management.
China is the second largest wealth management market after Japan in the Asia-Pacific region. A recent study released by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in October noted that China's wealth market is expected to outpace all other countries over the next five years, with a projected annual growth rate of 17.4 percent.
The country has the world's fifth largest number of households with more than $1 million in liquid assets, trailing only the United States, Japan, Britain and Germany, according to BCG.
|
||
|
|