Banking News
- Bank of China has ticket gold
Date: 17-Apr-2007 Sources: (Xinhua Online)
Bank of China Ltd, the nation's second largest, expects to get at least 10 million new savings accounts as it distributes tickets for the 2008 Beijing Olympic in the mainland.
The Bank of China savings account is one of two payment methods under phase one of domestic ticket sales, Bloomberg News reported.
The bank is expecting a 'huge surge in demand' in new account openings, Yao Hua, deputy general manager at the personal banking department, told reporters in Beijing Monday.
Tickets for the 17-day event went on sale on Sunday and three-quarters of the seven million tickets available - priced from 30 yuan (4 U.S. dollars) to 5,000 yuan - are for the home market. Ticket sales will raise 140 million dollars in total.
'It's hard to give a precise number but we're prepared to handle the opening of tens of millions of new savings accounts,' Yao said. 'The Olympics is an event that is keenly watched in China.'
Domestic ticket sales will take place in three stages. Chinese residents can place orders through the official ticketing Website, the organizing committee's ticketing phone hotline or at designated Bank of China branches countrywide.
Under the first phase, which ends on Sept. 30, payment can only be made via Bank of China savings accounts or any Visa International Inc credit card, according to the Beijing Organizing Committee.
Visa is one of 12 so-called TOP sponsors with the exclusive worldwide rights to use the Olympic symbol.
Bank of China has more than 11,000 outlets nationwide, 580 self-service centers and 11,600 automated service machines. It also has the most extensive overseas network, with 600 branches in 27 countries and regions.
As of Dec. 31, 2005, the bank had 3.3 million personal customers with a deposit balance of 100,000 yuan and about 334,800 customers with a balance of 500,000 or more.
Bank of China is betting these new customers will buy other products, including credit cards and mutual funds to boost its overall income.
'Being involved in the Olympic ticketing sales can help introduce potential customers to the services that we can offer,' Xu Chen, general manager at Bank of China's Olympic affairs department, said in Beijing Monday.
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