Foreign-invested banks have become popular with Chinese
consumers, particularly with the new upper class who believe
banking with a foreign bank is the mark of a high social status,
according to an AC Nielsen study.
Consumers in the three largest cities -- Shanghai, Beijing and
Guangzhou -- are increasingly aware of foreign banks' services in
China, said an AC Nielsen report in the latest issue of Personal
Finance Monitor.
Though most consumers still choose domestic banks, the gap
between foreign and local banks is narrowing, it said.
In China's commercial center Shanghai, more than half of the
people surveyed could name a foreign bank,?a six percent
increase from last year, according to the magazine, after
conducting a telephone survey of 7,500 people in 10 big Chinese
cities.
This year's survey found that in the three largest cities, young
couples with no children tend to deposit one third of their monthly
earnings into a savings account, invest 5 to 10 percent and leave
the remaining 57 to 64 percent for miscellaneous spendings.
"Local banks enjoy many advantages in the domestic market," said
Bega Ng, Director of Financial Research from AC Nielsen China.
"They are more familiar with the local market and most of them have
set up a comprehensive network of branches and ATMs."
For foreign banks, the key to surviving the competition is to
communicate effectively with their target group and build brand
loyalty in the long run, said Ng.
(Xinhua News Agency October 22, 2006)