ICBC announced a financial service solution targeted at migrant workers in Beijing on March 2, marking the official launch of its initiative.on migrant workers’ payroll service. According to the solution, ICBC will provide a package of preferential financial services dedicated to migrant workers through around 550 outlets in 70 medium/large cities in China, including the “Green Channel” for migrant workers’ financial services and door-to-door payroll card service for migrant workers, so as to further enhance the service for “Sannong” (agriculture, farmers and rural areas) and public welfare.

Mr. Wang Xiquan, Vice President of ICBC, said at the kickoff ceremony of the initiative that ICBC has always adhered to integrating economic responsibility with social responsibility and implemented the inherent requirement of financial sector to serve the real economy. This initiative represents a move of ICBC to further strengthen and improve rural financial services.

Mr. Jiao Kaihe, Vice Chairman of All-China Federation of Labor, commended ICBC’s positive attitude and willingness to take actions to implement national policy requirements and fulfill social responsibility. He said that in establishing, improving and implementing the migrant workers’ payroll service system, as institutions that assist enterprises in distributing wages to migrant workers and providing services to migrant workers, banks serve as a bridge between employers and migrant workers and help establish the employer payroll credibility system.

This financial service initiative provides a bridge between the government, employers and migrant workers, creates a closed loop of fund management, assures sources of wages, assists the government in ensuring policy implementation, assists employers in improving payroll management and provides migrant workers with a variety of services including settlement preferences, investment and financing, said Mr. Li Weiping, head of personal banking at ICBC. For employees, the initiative provides them with quick and convenient payroll service, including issuance of payroll cards and exclusive preferential service package; offers higher return on term deposits, demand deposits, principal-guaranteed or fixed-income wealth management products, fund products and accident insurance; and provides migrant workers who purchase deposits, wealth management products and fund products with self-service pledge loans via telephone banking and Internet banking. On the employer side, the employer’s payroll deposit account for migrant workers can be opened to provide relevant account management, balance monitoring and sub-account management services; the migrant workers’ payroll account opening and management service will be provided to meet needs related to use of earmarked funds, monitoring of funds, sub-contractor account management under the general contractor’s direct payroll service mode and directed receipts and payments.

At the kickoff ceremony, Chinese Financial Workers’ Union called for all financial institutions to pay due attention to migrant workers’ payroll service, assist government agencies and business entities in implementing requirements on migrant workers’ payroll deposit and migrant workers’ payroll account management, cooperate with employers in distributing wages to migrant workers through banks and use a range of financial services to ensure income security of migrant workers.

ICBC has highly valued financial service needs of migrant workers in terms of outlet distribution, product supply and service support. Currently ICBC has more than one third of outlets located at the county level, launched dozens of wealth management products exclusive for farmers, issued nearly 20 million payroll cards to customers in rural areas, provided payroll service to more than 21 million migrant workers in manufacturing, construction, catering and retail industries, and distributed more than RMB 700 billion worth wages annually to migrant workers on behalf of their employers.