Banking News
- ATM withdrawal limit yet to be raised
Date: 23-May-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
LOCAL banks were yesterday still waiting for an official notice from People's Bank of China on raising the daily withdrawal limit of automated teller machines (ATMs), even after media reports said the central bank had issued a policy Sunday to raise the amount from 5,000 to 20,000 yuan (US$649.35-2,597).
While most people welcome the move, hoping it will cut the time spent waiting at ATMs, some worry they may suffer heavier losses if their bank cards are stolen or lost.
An employee of China Merchants Bank said the bank had not received any notice from the central bank. 'The practice could begin next week. We will publish a notice on our Web site and at the entrance to all our outlets when it is in place,'she said.
Other domestic banks like Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Bank of China (BOC) and Construction Bank of China (CBC) responded in similar fashion yesterday.
'I myself learned about it only through the newspapers,'said an employee in the customer services department of the Shenzhen Bay subbranch of ICBC.
Presently, local banks allow cardholders to withdraw a maximum of 2,000 yuan on each occasion and 5,000 yuan daily through ATMs.
Central bank president Zhou Xiaochuan said late April that the authorities would raise the ATM withdrawal limit to cut the time spent queuing in front of machines and increase efficiency.
'We've researched this issue since then,'the ICBC official said.
She said an ATM may not work properly if it handled too many bank notes at one time. 'Possibly we will allow 3,000 yuan at each withdrawal, but have not decided on the amount of maximum daily withdrawal.'
BOC said it plans to raise the daily maximum to 10,000 yuan on a trial basis, and then gradually raise the ceiling.
Each ATM can hold 3,000 bank notes of 100 yuan each at most. If each user takes out 20,000 yuan in each withdrawal, 15 users will empty an ATM and banks will be forced to refill the machine more frequently. Allowing people to take out bigger sums will also keep others waiting longer at ATMs, banks said.
The local police said allowing larger withdrawals at ATMs would make it more difficult to pin down suspects in case of bank card fraud.
The central bank notice applies to debit cards but not credit cards. The daily limit for credit card withdrawals will remain 2,000 yuan.
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