A number of banks have opened “sleep accounts” to clean up. Recently, the reporter noted that Industrial And Commercial Bank Of China Limited(601398) , Bank Of China Limited(601988) and other banks have successively started the investigation of individual bank accounts such as “long-term immovable” and “one person with multiple households”, adjusted the functions of these accounts, and strictly controlled the total amount of individual bank accounts (including bank cards).
Many insiders interviewed by the reporter believe that the bank’s cleaning up of abnormal accounts will help to crack down on telecom network fraud from the source, curb cross-border gambling and ensure capital security; At the same time, it is also conducive to banks to improve business efficiency and reduce management costs. For cardholders, the risk of theft can also be reduced after the account is “counted”.
In addition, the reporter learned that in order to facilitate the public to directly grasp the bank card information under their names, under the guidance of the central bank, China UnionPay and Commercial Bank launched the “one click card check” service. Since December 20, 2021, users can query the number of bank cards under their names through the “one click card check” function of the cloud flash payment app. It is reported that at present, this function is only available for users in Shanghai and Yunnan.
several banks opened “sleep account” cleaning
With the continuous promotion of the “card breaking action”, the management intensity of individual bank accounts by financial institutions is increasing.
Industrial And Commercial Bank Of China Limited(601398) recently issued a notice on the investigation of personal bank accounts such as “long-term immovable” and “one person with multiple households”, which is called to ensure the safety of accounts and funds and facilitate the rational arrangement and use of personal bank account resources. The bank will continue to carry out the investigation of personal bank accounts (debit cards and current passbooks) such as “long-term immovable” and “one person with multiple households”.
According to the Industrial And Commercial Bank Of China Limited(601398) announcement, the investigation will begin on January 11, 2022. The scope of investigation includes two categories. One category is personal long-term immovable bank accounts, that is, as of January 10, 2022, there has been no active customer transaction for more than three consecutive years (including three years), the balance of current account is less than 10 yuan, and there is no credit card, personal loan repayment and other collection and payment agreement signed. The function of the account is adjusted to receive but not pay.
The other is that individuals open multiple settlement accounts, that is, they hold more than four class I personal settlement accounts under the same customer’s name, and the bank’s business outlets have not made a reasonable explanation for the use of multiple accounts, and the function of the account is adjusted to receive but not pay.
The so-called class I account refers to a fully functional bank settlement account, which can handle deposits, transfers, consumption and payment, purchase investment and financial products, etc., and the scope and amount of use are not limited. At present, the same person can only open one class I account in the same bank. If a class I account has been opened and a new account is opened, a class II or class III account shall be opened.
However, Industrial And Commercial Bank Of China Limited(601398) also mentioned that if the user’s account is within the scope of “long-term fixed” bank account investigation and wants to continue to be used, it can complete a moving account transaction before the specified time; In addition, users who are adjusted to only receive but not pay can log in to mobile banking (account / my account – more – lifting restrictions) or check their identity at smart terminals and counters in any business outlets across the country, and then release the function control for the account.
In addition to Industrial And Commercial Bank Of China Limited(601398) , Bank Of China Limited(601988) also announced at the end of December 2021 that it would investigate accounts with no transactions in recent three years (inclusive) and a balance of less than or equal to 10 yuan (RMB), as well as multiple settlement accounts opened by the same customer, that is, more than four (exclusive) class I accounts held under its name, and suspend financial services for the above accounts in accordance with regulatory regulations.
Earlier, China Everbright Bank Company Limited Co.Ltd(601818) opened the announcement on controlling small long-term real estate accounts on December 10, 2021, saying that non counter business will be suspended for personal settlement accounts (social security card, medical insurance card, military security card, provident fund card and other accounts) with no transactions other than interest settlement for more than three consecutive years (including) and a balance of less than 10 yuan (including), That is, the account can only handle business through the counter of the business outlet.
In the view of insiders, more banks may join the “sleep account” cleaning team in the future, and the growth of personal bank accounts may be controlled. According to the data previously released by the central bank, by the end of the third quarter of 2021, a total of 13.299 billion personal bank accounts had been opened in China, an increase of 1.99% month on month, and the growth rate was 0.06 percentage points lower than that at the end of the previous quarter.
In fact, the phenomenon of bank account clearing has lasted for a long time. Especially after the central bank made it clear that the same person can only open one class I account in the same bank in 2016, major banks have successively carried out clearing work, limiting or degrading the “sleep” account that has not been used for a long time or the excess account under the cardholder’s name.
At the beginning of 2021, a round of “sleep” account cleaning was also started. At that time, many banks including Postal Savings Bank Of China Co.Ltd(601658) , China Construction Bank Corporation(601939) , China Citic Bank Corporation Limited(601998) issued relevant announcements. A senior practitioner in the payment industry told reporters that bank account clearing is a regular phenomenon. On the one hand, it is in line with the current regulatory orientation and can reduce management costs; For example, according to the first quarterly report of CCB in 2021, during the reporting period, China Construction Bank Corporation(601939) obtained a net income of 108 million yuan from cleaning up its sleep account. On the other hand, for cardholders, too many unused bank cards occupy a lot of social resources, and there is a risk of information disclosure or theft.
prevent cross-border gambling and telecom fraud
In the view of many people in the industry, compared with reducing management costs and other factors, it is more important for banks to carry out “sleep account” cleaning action, strengthen bank account management, curb the spread of cross-border gambling, telecommunications fraud and other illegal activities, and ensure the safety of account funds.
“Bank card can be said to be the ultimate tool of Telecom fraud.” Dong Zheng, a senior researcher in the credit card market, once told reporters that this is because one of the root causes of the continuous high incidence of telecom network fraud lies in the out of control management of telephone cards and bank cards, especially bank cards.
For example, in telecommunications fraud, fraudsters usually require the cheated to transfer the money to the “designated account”. The so-called designated account is not the account opened by the fraudster himself, but generally the account purchased by the fraudster from other channels. This leads to that once something happens, the relevant departments can only track the cardholder, making it difficult to find the fraudster. Cutting off the trading chain of bank cards is equivalent to curbing the above illegal actions from the source.
In this regard, Regulations have also been issued: “The bank shall sort out the situation where the number of accounts opened by the same depositor is large, and require the depositor to make an explanation and verify the rationality of opening an account. If the rationality of opening an account cannot be verified, the bank shall guide the depositor to cancel or merge the account, or take measures such as reducing the account category, so that the depositor can use the account classification mechanism to deposit funds reasonably and protect the safety of funds All. “
Nowadays, banks continue to strengthen the management of personal bank accounts. The central bank also clearly mentioned in the 2022 working meeting that it will continue to crack down on cross-border gambling, telecom network fraud and illegal payment activities in 2022.
The reporter also learned that recently, under the guidance of the central bank, China UnionPay United Commercial Bank launched the “one click card check” service on the cloud flash payment app on December 20, 2021 to support cardholders to query their bank card opening and use status under the names of many banks. Through this service, users can query the number of bank cards, bank name, debit and credit attributes, the first four digits and the last four digits of the card number of each bank under their name.
In the view of insiders, this will facilitate cardholders to query their long-term unused bank cards and cancel their accounts in time, strengthen their own bank card management, and prevent personal bank cards from being used by criminals for illegal and criminal activities such as telecom network fraud or cross-border gambling.
It is reported that the “one click card checking” function is only available for users in Shanghai and Yunnan. The first batch of 14 banks to participate in the pilot include Industrial And Commercial Bank Of China Limited(601398) , Agricultural Bank Of China Limited(601288) , Bank Of China Limited(601988) , China Construction Bank Corporation(601939) , Bank Of Communications Co.Ltd(601328) , China Citic Bank Corporation Limited(601998) , China Everbright Bank Company Limited Co.Ltd(601818) , China Merchants Bank Co.Ltd(600036) , China Minsheng Banking Corp.Ltd(600016) , Industrial Bank Co.Ltd(601166) , Guangdong Development Bank, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Co.Ltd(600000) , China Zheshang Bank Co.Ltd(601916) . In the follow-up, with the gradual improvement and promotion of the pilot, more banks will join one after another.
However, as the “one click card checking” function is still in the pilot stage, some bank cards that have not reserved mobile phone numbers in banks, expired ID cards, and have not opened card free self-service consumption business are not yet within the scope of query.
