Good news, mobile bankers: China’s top five banks have announced plans to waive all fees for money transfers using their mobile banking systems.
Bank of China, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the China Construction Bank, the Agricultural Bank of China, and the Bank of Communications will waive their fees. Users will also be issued a free allowance of 5,000 yuan via online banking transfers.
“This is a specific measure to protect savers’ interest and improve banks’ service quality,” read the announcement, in part.
The China Merchants’ Bank eliminated mobile banking fees back in September 2015, as did regional banks like the Bank of Shanghai and the Bank of Ningbo.
The new policy was inspired by the rising competition of third-party payment services, such as Alibaba’s Alipay and Tencent’s Tenpay. However, contrary to how Chinese banks are waiving similar fees, TenCent had announced it will charge Wechat Wallet users a fee for withdrawing cash to personal bank accounts.